The Most Successful Club

With WMCFL entering its 30th season and the dire shortage of competitive football at this stage of the year, I thought I'd knock up a table to determine who is the most successful club in the history of WMCFL. Naturally, this issue is open for debate, so feel free to chip in if you want to.

I decided that one way to determine where we all stand would be to give three points for a Division One win, two for a League Cup win and one for a Division Two title. This is how it panned out:

I haven't included the Kevin Kovacs Memorial Throphy or other minor cups and I suppose I will have to revise the scoring mechanism once Division Three has concluded at the end of the 08/09 season.

As you can see, Chawn Hill Church are way out in front with ten major trophies to their name, partly due to the length of time they have been in the League (they have played in all 29 seasons to my knowledge) and partly because they have been a great side over the years. The early nineties was when they did the most damage, winning back-to back League and Cup doubles in 1991 and 92. They followed that up with the League title again in 93. They also hold the record of the most Division One and League Cup wins.

In second spot, jointly are Calvary and Walsall Olympic. Calvary have been known under several guises, joining the League, along with Chawn in 1979 as founder members under the name of Calvary Temple. The 'Temple' was dropped from their title and then changed to 'King's' after the KIng's Christian Centre in Birmingham. Calvary won the first recorded title in 1982 and in fact did the double that year with a Cup win as well. They went onto win the title again in 83 and 85 but it was nearly 20 years before the title returned in 2003. They've been a bit unlucky in the Cup, losing in the final on a number of occasions. Walsall pretty much took over Chawn's crown in the mid nineties, dominating WMCFL for a few seasons. And like Calvary won Division One three seasons in four. They also won the Cup in 94 and 98 and I know they lost in the final in 99 and 2000 bowing out of WMCFL in 2002 and returning in 2006. The current team are competing in Division Two.

Current League Champions Clarendon, sit in equal fourth. They are the most successful club in recent times, winning Division One three seasons out of the five they have competed. It's the Cup that lets them down. Also in fourth are Sparkbrook Elim and Tipton Pentecostal. Sparkbrook won the League and Cup double in 88 and 89 but I haven't heard from them since. I don't know anyone that played for them. I did drive past the church just recently, I'm not sure it is still going. You used to have to get changed in the church. I played against them, they were tough. Tipton are another team I managed to play (and score) against! I think they played up at Greet's Green for a while. There are at least two people I know that played for Tipton back in those days that still play in WMCFL: Derek Dudfield and Tim Fellows.

Next up are Aldridge Parish with two Division One wins, taking the mantle from Walsall. They also have one League Cup win in 1997, a famous victory. It was the first ever Cup final that I had attended and what a game! The scores were even with Rolwey College, 3-3 at full time. Rowley scored early in extra time and clung onto the lead, until right at the death Aldridge stole it with two late, late goals. I'm sure they would have gone onto win many more trophies as the superpowers of the nineties faded (Chawn, Walsall, Alpha and perhaps later Woodgate) but Aldridge sought football at a higher level.

In eighth spot we have a tie, with Dynamo's three League Cup wins and Rowley both on six points. DK are just behind Chawn on three Cup wins and Rowley are the only club apart from Chawn to win the Cup and both Divisions.

Other notable statistics are: Halesowen Zion are the only club to win Division Two twice, 2005 and 2008. There are just four teams that have won both Division One and Division Two; these are: Chawn, of course, Clarendon, who won Division Two at their first attempt and then won Division One the very next year in Forestesque fashion. Rowley as previously mentioned and lastly Brierley Hill. Now Brierley Hill, despite being disappointed to be the first club to be relegated to Division Three can make history if they take the inaugral Division Three title next season.

Notable absentees from the list are perhaps Wolves and Perton. Runners up in 2005 and 2006 and lost in the final of 2005. Flicking through the recent history, I think most clubs have managed to win something at some point. There are a few exceptions; Christchurch Hornets, Sporting Zion and more recently Sandwell United, who I think will win something if they stick at it, Sheldon and Zion Athletic as well.

Ten weeks until the start of the season. Can you tell I'm bored?..Please let me know if you have a friendly, I'll come and watch or maybe even ref.

Champions Church 10 Birmingham International 1

Another friendly match to report and another handsome score line for Champions. Having played many of the new teams, Champions seem to be the early favourites to take the first ever Division Three title WMCFL has ever run. But a ball hasn't been kicked in anger yet and friendlies are one thing, competitive football is another. Having said that, Champions do look well organised.

Champions' Shawn Devonport reports: You would look at the scoreline and think it was easy, but it was far from it. It was a battle from the start to the finish. We walked off the pitch all in agreement that Birmingham International will do very well next year and have been our hardest match yet!

We were the better team first half coming in 5-0 at half time but Birmingham International were by far the better team for the first 20 minutes of the second half getting a goal back and putting us under alot of pressure with some very slick passing moves which can sometimes be a rarity at our level. But we got back on top with a sucker punch sixth from Dave Luxton who drove one in off the crossbar from 35 yards out!! Fantastic goal.That seemed to knock them back a bit and we took total control with a quick-fire double that sealed the result!

Goalscorers: Shawn Devonport 5, Mark Goule 2, Greg Thompson 1, David Luxton 1, O.G 1

P.S. Just to say it was a fantastic meeting last night and the League has grown loads even since I started just four years ago and it's certainly exciting times!

Annual General Meeting

A great turnout for the AGM this year in what is to be WMCFL's biggest ever crop of clubs. All nine new teams were voted in, making the total 31. The League will be split into three divisions with Division One carrying the eleven teams. Chawn and Renewal Solihull were relegated with City escaping the drop in the restructure. Halesowen Zion, St Thomas' and King's move up a division to the top flight. Brierley Hill join the new nine clubs to form a third division for the first time in WMCFL history.

The League Cup will take the traditional straight knock-out format. The draw was as follows: MBD United v Dynamo Kingswinford, Bilston Beacons v Halesowen Zion, King's AFC v Elim Athletic, Amblecote v Sheldon, Rockmount Utd v St Thomas', Clarendon v Selly Oak Methodist, Champions Church v E K Corinthia, Birmingham International v St Matthew's, Chawn Hill Church v St Mary's, Sandwell United v Walsall Olympic, Zion Athletic v Brierley Hill AOG, Lighthouse Lions v W'ton & Perton Churches, DC Dynamos v Rowley College, St Boniface v Renewal Solihull, All Nations v City Church and Shiloh United got a bye into the second round as the spare team.

The first team named in each tie will be the home club. There will be no further Cup draws. The winner of the MBD v Dynamo game will play the winner of Bilston v Halesowen and so on. Again the higher team in the draw will be the home club. So if MBD beat Dynamo, they will be the home team in Round Two. I will prepare a League Cup page in due course.

Presentation Night

Click here to view photos of the Presentation Night.

Many thanks to Tony Skelton for providing the pictures.

Friendly Match

Champions Church 5 Walsall Olympic 1

Champions Shawn Devonport reports: This may have been called a friendly but it was a fiercely contested match with plenty of solid tackles. Another convincing win for us with four first team regulars away. Walsall were missing a few guys too but a special mention to a lad called Pete who was one of the best players I've played against in our League, watch out for him next year! Also a special mention to Greg Thompson for our team too who scored a fantastic hat trick from left midfield. But all in all another good match and another good result us guys.

Goal scorers Greg Thompson 3, Shawn Devonport 2

Hope Faith & Football

A few months ago I put on the web a vision of a football coaching week that God had place on mine, Richard and Steve Harpers heart to do put together. The aim was to get Christian footballers to attend and influence the kids in a positive way. We have just completed the weeks football coaching at The Pavilion, MoorLane and it was a real success. We had over 100 kids turn up for the week, despite the bad weather. We had Darren Moore (Derby County) James Chambers (Leicester City) Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City) Steve Spooner (BCFC Academy Coach) and Mike Tindall (Ex Villa) all turn up throughout the week which was great for the kids to interact with the stars. (and me!!)

Thanks for all the prayers over the last few months and hopefully we will be doing it again next year. On Sunday night we have a presentation night for all the kids who took part during the week and also a pre-recorded testimony that Darren Moore did for us during the week as he is unable to attend due to other commitments. Steve Spooner and Mike Tindall will also be there to present the awards and give testimonies of what God has done in their lives. If you would like to come the address is: Elim Church, Warren Road, Kingstanding, B44 8QD.

Chris Morrison

Elim Kingstanding FC

Friendly Match

Champions Church 14 All Nations 0

No it's not rugby. This was All Nation's very first match together and they were torn apart by a well organised and disciplined Champions team spear-headed by the in-form Shawn Devonport.

Champions have a nice set up, well balanced between youth and experience and strong leadership, overseen by the church. All Nations need to get some matches under their belt.

Champions Shawn Devonport reports: I'm afraid to say the 14-0 scoreline was probably a true reflection of the balance of play. However, All Nations never gave up and right through to the final whistle their attitude was spot on as they were encouraging each other when it would have been easier to get on each others' backs. A credit to the whole team. For us were still unbeaten in 7 games and it was another good run out. It was very pleasing to see some very good passing moves that we were creating but were fully aware it's got to be carried through to next season but today was a good result and good to just be playing with each other!
Goalscorers: Shawn Devonport 7, Mark Goule (Kanu) 3, Lee Ralph 2, David Oakley 1, Greg Thompson 1.

Champions Church 6 MBD United 1

The football just keeps on going. Champions took on MBD United at Coseley School and Leisure Centre last Saturday. Champions' Shawn Devonport provides a report: The first half kicked off with a strong wind and two hungry teams just wanting to play football. MBD got in behind us a few times with the wind and went close. We also had chances in an open first 15 minutes with Tim Bamber shooting narrowly over from distance, Shawn Devonport going close with a free kick and David Oakley smashing a left foot volley just over.

The first goal came for MBD when a corner was swung in, missed everyone and just bounced in off Dave Oakley for an own goal. But we didnt let our heads drop and within 15 seconds we were level with Dave Oakley getting on the score sheet from the right end with a very good finish from the edge of the box. I then had a chance from the spot to make it 2-1 but missed after hitting the bar but made amends for it a few minutes later scoring from the edge of the box. MBD had a few other half chances and Tim Bamber again narrowly missed with a header so it was 2-1 at half time.

Second half started at a slower pace but we soon made it 3-1 when a fantastic through ball from Mark Goule allowed an easy one on one for myself. It was soon 4-1 and with it came my hat trick after picking up the pieces after we had hit the post and Mark Goule soon made it 5-1 from the spot. We were then awarded a 3rd penalty (although I think they were all pretty clear penalties) and Imade amends for my earlier miss to make it 6-1. MBD went very close at the end having a shot cleared of the line and at the other end they produced some fantastic defending with two goal line clearences from Josh Burchell and Rob Moody.

All in all a good run out and enjoyed the match thoroughly. We play All Nations at Coseley School 10.30 this Saturday.

A bit of history

Current League Secretary Neil Kovacs has unearthed records of the 2000/1 season. From where, heaven knows but quite a significant amount of detail, including goal scorers. I'm currently spending a wet Bank Holiday building the pages and entering the data. I have finally found my vocation!

It's interesting stuff though; there are quite a number of familiar names. On the opening day of the season, 2 September 2000, Renewal Solihull topped Division One after beating Brierley Hill, yes Brierley Hill in Division One! Scott Murrell was on target for Solihull. Michael Jean scored twice for Calvary (now called King's) as they beat the now defunct Alpha. A John Warr goal couldn't stop his Rowley team going down 3-2 at home to Walsall Olympic. Mark 'Sparky' Hughes and Jim Leghorn scored the goals for St Boniface as they beat Wolves and Perton 2-0 and Ian Pearsall helped his side St Thomas' also win 2-0 at home to Christchurch Hornets.

2000/1 was the season when WMCFL was at its largest with 24 clubs. We declined in size for a few years, losing a few sides before in recent seasons having more and more teams added. We are all set to break the record with a large influx for 08/09. So, Division Two kicked off with three teams from Zion Pentecostal. Halesowen sent St Mary's to the bottom of the League with a 6-1 win. Some very familiar names scoring that day: Steve Cockcroft got four and Mark Boyle scored twice with Toby Flenley bagged St Mary's solitary goal. AFC Zion were close behind Halesowen with a 6-2 win over West Bromwich Beacons and Sporting Zion made it a Zion 1-2-3 as John Taylor (now with Zion Athletic) scored all four to give his side a 4-3 at home to Bilston. The League Chairman scored the winner as Chawn Hill Athletic beat City Athletic (nothing to do with current club City Church) to add to Mark Kovacs' opener, still with Chawn today. Toyin Fatile scored for City and he was some player. Delta Wanderers beat St Matthew's 1-0 and Grenfell drew 2-2 at home with Amblecote. I played in that match. It was Jadon Silva's first match in charge of Amblecote in WMCFL and he scored a corker that day, dribbling the ball half the length of the pitch Maradona or Messi style.

Ed's Review of the Season

Click here to read

Halesowen Zion - Division Two Champions

Congratulations to Halesowen Zion who are now crowned Champions of Division Two - I know it sounds a bit peculiar to be announcing this three weeks after the end of the season but we had a few issues to sort out. Every thing has now been resolved, so well done Halesowen!

Incidentally, Halesowen go down in the record books as the first club ever to win the Division Two title twice. Most clubs seem to be formed, get promoted and remain in Division One or fold but with the three up, three down ruling we are seeing quite a few teams yo-yoing between the two tiers and hence getting a second shot at the lower league title. We will probably see a new twist next season with the large influx of teams expected and the possibility of a third tier. So there could be a brand new trophy up for grabs next season!

Gary Lamsdale and Dynamo Kingswinford

After six cracking seasons with Dynamo Kingswinford, last Saturday's match was my last as Club Secretary. Unfortunately due to other commitments I am unable to put in the time to do the job properly. I just wanted to say thanks and farewell to the other Club Secretaries most of whom have been a pleasure to speak with over the years. Thanks also to the League who do a cracking job. I sometimes feel that players need to appreciate the time and effort the commitee put in, unpaid! Most other leagues can't hold a candle to ours!

If selected I'll see you all out on the pitch. I'll be the ageing fat one who doesn't shut up! (I've still got all my hair though!)(sounds familiar - Ed)

All the best

Gary


A quick report on our last match of the season.

As usual, games against Amblecote are never a dull affair. With them chasing after second spot I'm sure they would have preffered a nice simple end of season game with the opposition out, just to see the season out. However after our first game when we won 6-0, comments game back to us how a number of their team seemed to think we were lucky and they were by far the better team!! You can image therefore it didn't take much of a team talk and my lads were up to prove themselves again. In truth due to injuries and the rearranged fixture we had been shorn of four of our starting eleven and it is to their great credit that Saturday's squad performed so well.

The game started off as expected with both sides a little nervous and it was DK who tested the keeper first a great move was started by Andy Poulton and involved Chris Sweetmore before Andy Aston burst into the box to force a great save from Dean in goal. Sweetmore went close minutes after and you could tell the Amblecote defence had respect for him having played against him two weeks previous. Amblecote passed the ball around well with a lot of the play coming from the evergreen Fellows who's passing and crosses caused problems for the DK defence. However DK were soon a goal up after pressure from midfield and Poulton set up Sweetmore who fimished clinically from ten yards. This continued to energise DK whilst Amblecote heads dropped a little, although they came back strongly with a number of good runs up front just lacking the final finish.

In the second half we defended like Trojans as Amblecote pushed an extra player up front at times and soon introduced all three subs. Matthew Pearson was hero again however pushing a goal bound shot round the post when it seemed an equaliser had been found against the run of play. The DK defence were continuing to perform well, marshalled commandingly by Matt Wildsmith, with Chris Talbot sticking like glue to Devonport. This gave our midfield and forwards the base to attack with confidence and Kev Hodgetts, Aston and Poulton all combined to find Waddams in the six yard box. He took twelve touches and finished calmly to give us a 2-0 lead. Amblecote continued to press down the flanks, but Dave Abel and Ian Hopson both stood strong whilst also setting up numerous forrays forward. Fellows looked most likely to grab a goal back with Ashby also close, blocked by fat bum when it was going into the top corner. Jase Russell and James Pinches came on for DK to add some final steel and pace (not sure which is which) and despite Poulton and Sweetmore hitting the Amblecote woodwork the score remained the same up to the final whistle.

Final Score:
Amblecote 0 DK 2

My man of the match: Andy Waddams ( I've always liked you Andy).

Well done lads a great finish to the season, great team spirit.
Cheers departing Chris Sweetmore who is off to Chesterfield, thanks for the two years mate.

Ed - I'd just like to say what a pleasure it is to have had Gary as DK secretary. He has always been chipper and sensible in all my dealings with him. And it's folks like Gary who I am prepared to sacrifice my time for.

In his time as DK secretary, he saw his team promoted along with Clarendon in their first season (2002/3). They came second to Roger's boys that year, losing out on the Division Two title by just one point, however they did go on to beat St Thomas' 2-1 in the Cup Final. They followed up that superb maiden season with another corker, retaining the League Cup and coming third in one of the tightest Championships we have ever seen. Clarendon won the title, with Amblecote two points behind them in second followed by DK also on 43 points.

2004/5 saw DK wane a little. WMCFL was at its smallest since 1998 with just sixteen clubs. DK finished fifth out of nine First Division teams, avoiding relegation by just two points. They still put up a good show in the Cup: A single Oliver Jones goal knocked DK out at the semi-final stage.

In 2005/6, DK regained the League Cup beating Halesowen Zion 3-2 in extra-time but dropped out of Division One. With WMCFL back on the up with twenty teams taking part. Dynamo bounced straight back coming third in Division Two. In Gary's last season in charge, Dynamo had a mixed year, coming good in the last few laps but were unable to repeat their early years Cup heroics.

I certainly hope to see Gary still involved in WMCFL and I'm sure you'll join me in saying thank you to him for his efforts over the last half dozen years and wishing him all the best in everything he does. A jolly good bloke!

Cheers mate!

Saturday Review

Division One

Clarendon 6 Sheldon 1

Congratulations to Clarendon on winning the League and winning their last match comfortably. They have dominated the division and finish twelve points clear, a monumental achievement considering there were only eighteen matches. Clarendon's Ashley Innis texted: Well, we did it! After a long, hard season, we've gone unbeaten in the League and signed off in style today with a 6-1 win. I felt the scoreline could have been twice what it was, not least because we squandered lots of chances but we also played the second half against ten men and then nine and a half. Credit to Sheldon's goal scorer though who scored the goal of the game. From a whole season point of view, a special mention has to go to Everton, who has not only been the Division's Top Scorer but also contributed to nearly as many goals. Also to the defence who enabled us to have the meanest goals against, which I think means we bettered Chawn's record.

Renewal Solihull 1 St Mary's 2

St Mary's pinch second spot with a close win at Solihull. Goals from John Wynn and Leigh Watts secure the points to sneak past St Matthew's on the last day of the season. Their old rivals had a slightly poorer goal difference and have to settle for third.

St Matthew's and St Mary's were more used to dicing it out for the League's wooden spoon a few years back, how things have changed!

Amblecote 0 Dynamo Kingswinford 2

Amblecote's old rivals Dynamo do the double over them in a deserved 2-0 win at the Dell on the last day of the season. I managed to get down to watch the game. DK defended very well, limiting Amblecote to few chances and forced a couple of errors out of the Amblecote defence to score a goal each side of half time. The introduction of Jadon Silva with twenty-five minutes to go did liven things up a jot but he could turn the tide, DK were too strong, too well organised and stood firm.

Division Two

King's AFC 6 Bilston Beacons 2

King's finally catch up with their games in hand to cruise back into third place and claim the 'automatic' promotion place with a 6-2 win at home to Bilston. Their nerves must have been jangling in the week leading up to this game but a Martin Lees hat trick along with goals from Mykel Phipps, Noel McWhirter and Andy Dore calmed things. It was nice to see Alfi Westwood's name on the scoresheet. He's been a rock at the back for Bilston and helped steer the club through choppy waters, especially earlier in the season.

St Boniface 1 Brierley Hill AOG

Not particularly a season to write home about for either club but at least they've been close over the last 180 minutes. Again, it's nice to see that both teams have got something from several games this year and there were times when they lost but gave a good account of themselves.

Friendlies

Chawn Hill Church 4 Elim Athletic 4

Jon Earp emailed: Never a boring game with us. Despite the score line this was our best performance to date. We were fast out of the blocks and looked sharp from the off, our midfield got the ball down and played some nice football. The first fifteen minutes we were on top and looked likely to score first, with our every busy Chris Smith bursting through on more than one occasion only to be thwarted by their goalkeeper. Chawn Hill’s goalkeeper then pulled two saves right out the top draw after saving two one on ones to deny Emeka Agbeze after good work from Sean McKenna. By this time our midfield was running the show with Sam Lynch, Chris Smith, Sean McKenna playing some good football. Then we got sucker-punched after confusion between our defence and goalkeeper watched the ball drift into the net. Chawn had looked lively on the counter a few times, but lesson learned from our mistake. With 35 minutes gone we conceded a penalty which Chawn put away to make the game 2-0. Ten minutes left in the half we got a well deserved goal, after Dave Hunter sent Chris Smith through to score. No sooner had we got a goal back we conceded a third, this was disappointing, but fair play to the young Chawn Hill right mid for a driving run and finish. The half finished 3-1 to Chawn Hill Church, although against the play, I was still pleased at half time as our overall game was very good.

I made some changes to our team at half time which saw the introduction of Michael Knowles and Mark Greenwell. The second half started as the first with us putting the pressure on Chawn through some good play. We then pulled a goal back after Chris Smith put away for his 4th goal in two games from a flick on. We were well and truly back in the game and continued to press. Chawn looked sharp on the counter and played some good football themselves and kept us on our toes. After winning a corner, Sam Lynch put in a great ball which Michael Knowles put away at the back post. With the score at 3-3 the game was there for the taking, both teams at this stage playing some great football. We then took the lead after Sean McKenna sent Michael Knowles clean of the defence to score his second of the game, a well deserved brace. I made a cameo appearance to replace the injured Mark Greenwell which lasted all of five minutes, it's a long way to go before I am fully fit again. We lost our goalkeeper and conceded a goal with about fifteen minutes to go, that saw me come back on in goal. Both teams went for the winner in the closing minutes but neither team could make the break through. I am pleased with the progress Elim Athletic FC are making as we continue to learn and grow as a team. For me this game was played with the right attitude with both teams looking to play football. Good game all round.

MBD United 2 Sandwell United 6

Matt Holt reports: On a nice sunny day Sandwell Utd went on an away trip to play MBD United. Sandwell started the game the brighter and with plenty of good forward play they were 4-0 up in thirty minutes, with goals from Sean Snow, Luke Hazlehurst and 'a suprising' header from Matt Lawley but the pick of the goals was a superb free kick from Martyn Vaughan. MBD passed it around through their midfield and their best chance was saved by the Sandwell keeper with a full stretch finger tip save.

The second half was a much closer affair. Sandwell scored again quickly with a goal from Matt Lawley but MBD replied. With a through ball the striker slotted past the keeper. MBD made several subs whch started to work as they created more chances and had several corners. They were 5-2 after the Sandwell defender bought down the striker for a penalty. Five minutes later Sandwell restored their four goal advantage, with a second goal from Martyn Vaughan.

All in all a good game. I would like to take this opportunity to thank MBD for the friendly and look forward to seeing them next year.

Saturday Review

Division One

Dynamo Kingswinford 0 Rowley College 2

If this report slightly amends Ed's headline it does so in a way that in no way reduces the Roy of the Rovers element or my open-mouthed astonishment at what Amateur football can deliver.

Firstly I would like to pay tribute to Alun Inett who bowed out today having played for Rowley with distinction from Day One (Sept 7th 1991). To more recent entrants to the WMCFL he is probably known only as our keeper but for ten years Al was quite simply our most important outfield player (4 times player of the year). He was a frustrated centre forward who played most of his first 200 games as an immaculate centre half (the season he played upfront he topscored with 16 but we were almost relegated!). Aside from a short spell as a semi-pro with Tividale (scouted by Rowey's dad!) Al has been Rowley through and through and was pivotal to our side that won the cup in 2001 and the league in 2002. Sadly in the week that we clinched the title Al sustained a serious ankle injury playing for his Sunday team and despite rest, physio and operations he has never recovered sufficiently to play out again. However never one to complain, he has made the best of things and has played on and off since with distinction as our keeper, collecting a division 2 winner's medal last year. Nevertheless with a proper injury he has found it increasingly difficult to play and finally decided enough was enough: in his words "I've got twenty more years of football in my head but my ankle gave up five years ago!"

Therefore the stage was set today for an emotional occasion and Al and I had agreed he would get the last fifteen minutes up front to round off a memorable career. we also had the coincidence that Rowley had reached 998 goals scored in their 412 game history. This gave a little to what otherwise was a classic mid table end of season game between two bare elevens. Actually it was a decent game with (as usual) nothing in it and it looked like 999 and 1000 would have to wait till next year. Enter Al eager and classy, if not entirely mobile and a story I couldn't have written. First a volley from a corner gave us the lead and he was mobbed by his team-mates. Not his first ever goal (his 40th) but his first fifteen minutes out since 2002 and better was to come! Cue last minute, Rowley corner, flick from Nic Hadley and Al sidefoots Rowley's 1000th goal to claim the bottle of fine Spanish wine I'd promised to the scorer! Of course winning's great but the smiles at the end of the game were worth more than that! Cheers Al!

Gary Lamsdale adds: Well done to Rowley and especially to their retiring goal hero. Two bare elevens today and a definate 'end of season' feel to the game. They took their chances, well done Pete. Onto our last game next week against Amblecote. Injuries have robbed us of four key players, so you'd expect a home win.

Renewal Solihull 1 Sheldon 2

Renewal still languish in tenth place and go into their last match with St Mary's needing at least a point to avoid the wooden spoon. As for Sheldon, it's been a steady improvement on last season. What's gone against them is that they were always lagging behind in matches played, giving the impression that they were not doing as well as they were. They have now sneaked into sixth and could go fifth if they beat Clarendon next Saturday.

Division Two

Selly Oak Methodist 1 Halesowen Zion 3

Horror of horrors, the goal-posts had been taken down when Selly Oak arrived this morning to play their crucial game that would have meant promotion to Division One. They quickly rushed over to Rowheath where City Church play and hastily rearranged the game at great expense. Halesowen's John Williams reports: A "championship winning performance" from the lads today, after turning up to Selly Park and finding the council had taken the goalposts down, we were moved to City Church's ground, which many of you will know is a little like playing on the side of a mountain! (last year Raddlebarn Road was more like the Sahara-Ed)

The wind in our faces, we kicked off up the hill in the first half and spent most of our time in our half, restricting Selly Oak to a couple of half chances, one which was sliced onto the bar from the edge of the box. We did however find the net with a superb move, ending with a Tom Doran header at the back post. The second half was just as hard, the ball running away from us with the wind and down the slope. Tom eventually connected with the third in a series of long throws from Cocky, to take his tally to two. He has had a great season, but would probably admit (believe it or not) that he should have scored more in the second half of the season.

Selly Oak got one back shortly after, as a free kick from just outside the box made it's way through to the back stick, where it was eventually put over the line. We were probably a little too relaxed at that point, knowing that in all probability a draw was enough for us. However we woke up enough to get another goal. A long throw found Ben Doran whose first effort found its way back to him for him to power a shot inside the far post at the second attempt. The lads have been outstanding this season, and have stepped up to the plate when the going has got tough, aswell as playing some quite scintillating stuff this year. At the final whistle, out came the champagne, (sprayed liberally by captain Grant Doran who had to spend a nervous ninety minutes on the sidelines with a hamstring injury) and the celebrations commenced. Whatever happens off the field over the next few weeks, the whole Zion squad can be assured that they've played like champions all season!

Walsall Olympic 1 King's AFC 5

King's made no mistake this week with a sound 5-1 win away at Walsall Olympic. King's play Bilston next Saturday and need a point to return to Division One. Whilst I expect King's to win, it's not going to be straight-forward and I wouldn't put it past Bilston to wreck King's day.

Brierley Hill 0 St Boniface 0

St Boniface secure tenth place in Division Two, which may turn out to mean more than people realise with the almost certainty of a third division next season. Brierley Hill could avoid last in the League but will need to beat St Boniface in one of those weird quirks in the fixture list that get thrown up through a combination of cancellations and luck.

Friendly Matches

With the burgeoning list of clubs applying to join WMCFL next season, we are seeing a number of them either playing each other, or taking on sides wanting to keep sharp as the fixtures peter out. Yesterday, we saw a couple of matches played (that I know of). Feel free to update me or even provide a report and I'll do what I can to include it on the site.

Bilston Beacons 1 Champions Church 1

Shawn Devonport writes: This was our first match in quite a while before we start pre-season training but a well earned draw against a resilient Bilston team.

First half we were arguably the better team having numerous half chances and plenty of pressure with their keeper pulling off a few decent saves with our keeper not having much to deal with.

Second half Bilston attacked more with the wind and missed a very good chance with a one on one. They then had a corner and up popped Alfi to nod Bilston in front. We felt a little hard done by but showed good character to come back in to the game winning a penalty but Lee Ralph missed the kick and I some how managed to blaze over from three yards with shamefully probably the worst miss of my short career. But we continued to press and got our reward when a free kick from myself managed to find its way through to Dave Oakley who smashed it into the roof of the net. We had one good chance to win it with another free kick from a similar position found its way to Mark Goule who's attempt went over the bar.

Was a very good game and enjoyed the run out but against a Bilston team who may not set the world alight individually but are one of the most solid and hard working teams I've played against in our league, Alfie leading from the front as usual.

Anybody else looking for friendlies from the 10th May onwards email me at shawndevonport@hotmail.co.uk

Lighthouse Lions 3 Elim Athletic 3

I think this was the first we had seen of Lighthouse and fingers crossed we will be seeing much more. From what I have seen, Elim are a reasonable side and will hold their own, with some experience throughout the team, so a 3-3 draw against them will stand Lighthouse in good stead.

I understand that both clubs are looking for practice matches throughout the summer.

Elim's Jon Earp provides a report: A really frustrating day for Elim Athletic FC . A young and energetic Lighthouse team caused no end of trouble for us in a first half horror show. I believe within 5 minutes we went down a goal by a near post shot with our goalkeeper and defence caught cold. A very small pitch made life hard for us as we struggled to come to terms with the tempo of the game. Lighthouse continued to press by some good play down the flanks using their youthful energy to their advantage, we was well and truly all over the place. With about 30 minutes gone we got the ball down and started to put some passes together, although Lighthouse continued to press the ball all over the pitch. We had a few attempts at goal off the counter attack which was spearheaded by Dean O’Leary’s powerful runs. We managed to claw our way back into the game through another counter attack with a Chris Smith overhead kick from 4 yards out. Soon after we found ourselves behind again with a contentious free kick, which somehow found the back of the net. The score then went to 3-1 to Lighthouse as we fell behind to neat counter attack. We had battled hard without really doing anything of note, Sean McKenna and Dave Hunter battled hard for the scraps but the half was to finish 3-1.

After a stern halftime talking to and some wholesale changes seeing Emecka making his debut, Olly Armstrong and John Hyde coming on to try and steady the ship replacing a hard working Mark Greenwell, Joe Croot and Dave Hunter. The second half started much better as we largely controlled play, Olly Armstrong made and impact with some good challenges that gave our team a bit of a lift. We continued to control the game without really threatening the Lighthouse Goal, the first time we really put a good move together saw a good save from the Lighthouse keeper after an Emecka left footed shot from 20yards. Our build up play was poor and rushed, which gave Lighthouse a chance to counter a few times. We finally got our second of the game after Emecka scored a low driven free kick. We continued to push without really getting going, with 15 minutes left I threw on our youngest player Richard Knowlen who showed some nice touches and passes. We have a few close chances before we equalised with a very contentious Chris Smith second after knocking the ball in after challenging the goalkeeper. With the score at 3-3 a powerful Emecka run seen him one on one with the keeper, caught in two minds the keeper was able to make the save. With the final score at 3-3 I was somewhat disappointed with our performance, although it was not a defeat we can play a lot better than that. Lighthouse should feel unlucky not to win as they performed well, with a few skilful young players causing no end of trouble.

League Cup Final

I've had a few notes through about the Cup Final that I should have put on before today but have been a bit busy since Monday night:

St Mary's manager, Jon Jackaman emailed: It really was an cup final with everything you could wish for and I thought it was a tremendous advert for the league. Both teams certainly enjoyed playing on a bigger and better pitch than normal. I have to say I enjoy playing against Clarendon, they're a great bunch of lads and although the games against them are always hard fought they are also played in a great spirit.

We were certainly less nervous than last years final and that helped us focus on the task in hand. I am very proud of the team spirit that we have and that showed in the way in which we battled for everything during the game. Over the season we have got better and stronger as it has gone on. Since Christmas the team have put in extra work in our training sessions and this was our reward for all that hard work. Two cup wins in a row is a fantastic achievement and I can't express how much this means to me, as one of the founder members of the team, and now entrusted with managing the team.

Special mentions should also go to Nick and Phil who's motivating and organisation respectively have a huge positive effect on the team and the team spirit which we encourage. Finally I'd like to put on record our thanks to the league for the way in which the cup final is organised, it really does feel like a showpiece event and that is testimony to the hard work that the committee put into the event. Your efforts are certainly appreciated and makes it a pleasure to be involved with this league.

St Mary's Secretary Phil Kinson adds: Well after yet another memorable night in WMCFL's illustrious history I would like to thank the League officials for all their hard work, Halesowen Town FC for allowing us to use their fantastic facilities and of course Clarendon for the part they played in last nights final. We always knew that we were in for a battle and that Clarendon would hit us hard with their neat football, pace and unquestionable energy. However, on the night we also knew that we had the quality in depth, grit and determination to win the game. The game certainly did not disappoint and I think it was fitting for what I believe to be the two best teams in the league to make it to the final. Thanks again Clarendon for your kind words after the game and we look forward to re-igniting our rivalry in the Charity Shield and League campaign in 2008/09.

Chris Gethin emailed: Ed, that was a great final. Played in fantastic spirit (no yellow cards). Its the first time I have had the pleasure to watch Clarendon play, and what a pleasure! They have an exeptional team, and when they got forward always looked threatening. It was a 50-50 game, and well done to St Marys, who took their chances well. Very well organised Ed. Thanks again for a marvellous event. Chris.

Ed

I'd like to say a few thank yous. Firstly to Graham Brazier. Graham does a lot of work behind the scenes to get the event on the road. Graham makes all the negotiations with Halesowen Town and you'd have to say without the Halesowen final, it just wouldn't be the same. It'll be ten years next year.

A big thank you to Darren Moore for presenting the trophy. It made our premier event even more prestigious. To have a Premiership player at the game is a massive priviledge. Good luck next season Darren.

Thanks to the four match officials. We are fortunate in our League to be blessed with so many good referees. Len Perry and Terry Knott have served our League week in week out, year in year out and their efforts are much appreciated. Andy Underwood and James Orotayo are recent additions to our panel of referees but I'm sure we'll be saying the same thing about them in years to come. Many thanks to David Davies, our outgoing Referees' Secretary. He has done a great job organising referees throughout the season and making sure everything was in order on the night.

Thank you to Halesowen Town FC for the use of their facilities. I'm sure you'll agree that the pitch looked in superb condition last Monday night.

Thanks to the other members of the committee who get on with their jobs: Tony Skelton on car park duty, Rob Hill selling the programmes, Neil Kovacs on the gate and Richard Webster helping out.

Thanks to both clubs for giving us a superb game on the night and those who came to watch, to support your club and especially to the neutrals.

And if I've forgotten anybody, sorry! Please let me know and I'll make amends. Ed

Birmingham International 2 Real Riverside 2

Richard Taylor from Birmingham International emailed: We played Real Riverside from AFA last Saturday and drew 2-2 a very good game, plenty to look forward to next season we have a good strong side.

Saturday Review

Division One

Sheldon 3 City Church 1

Just one match in Division One today but it was crucial for both teams. For City, it was last chance saloon but for Sheldon, they would have had a couple more games in which to gather the necessary points. My 'twenty points for safety' theory worked this year. Sheldon now have twenty with two games to spare. Their win today relegated City but the result also means that Renewal Solihull cannot avoid finishing in the bottom three.

There are just five matches left in the Division this season and not much to play for. Solihull need a point from their last two games to avoid the wooden spoon. Amblecote and St Mary's are chasing second. If Amblecote beat Dynamo, they will make it and if they don't and St Mary's win then it's the Cup Finalists that will be runners up. If neither club register a win then it's St Matthew's.

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher emailed a report: A good first half for us, playing against the wind and scoring twice, City pulling one back. In the second half City tried hard but did not convert the few chances they had. We always looked dangerous going forward and so it proved when we put the game to bed with a third goal. Well done City you never gave up. This result guarantees us top flight football next season.

City's Ross Fittall adds: Sheldon came out on top today in the relegation 'six-pointer'. We needed to win and then hope results went our way in the remaining few games to give us a chance of staying up. This spurred us on to a bright start, carrying on from where we left off against Clarendon and Renewal.

We played well for the first twenty minutes forcing a number of chances and goal mouth scrambles and even had a penalty shout thrown in for good measure but were unable to capitalise on the pressure. Sheldon then started to play and move forward and soon took the lead with their attacker beating our player(me unfortunately!) to the near post to clip it past our keeper. That knocked us a bit and Sheldon doubled their lead after a bit of a defensive lapse saw a clearance from a pass back hit the on coming Sheldon player and loop into the empty net. Our recent resurgence and improved performances have primarily been down to a fully commited team effort and high work ethic and we again displayed good character to narrow the deficit to 2-1 before half time. Stuart Eustace assures us he carefully calculated the wind direction and speed to score directly from a corner!

Having to win the game we changed to three at the back and created more chances without looking particularly fluent and we were eventually caught from a long ball that was neatly finished to make it 3-1. As mentioned previously its not the last two games that have got us relegated but more the games when we have taken the lead and drawn or lost. We've enjoyed our first season in Division One and matched a lot of teams but now we have to re-group and hope to retain our squad for an immediate promotion season next year!

All the best to Sheldon for their final two games.

Division Two

King's AFC 1 St Thomas' Aldridge 1

Obviously a tight game in which both clubs needed to win for differing reasons. Mark Hadden added to his already impressive total this season. Despite dropping two points today, St Thomas' will win the Division Two title if Selly Oak beat Halesowen in their last game. King's are still in the hunt for a top three finish but need Selly Oak to lose or draw against Halesowen. They will then need to win their last two matches against a Walsall team that beat them a few weeks back and a Bilston side that pushed Halesowen all the way yesterday.

Halesowen Zion 2 Bilston Beacons 1

Bilston continue to improve and impress. Halesowen's Dave Walters provides a brief report: A tough game against a determined Bilston side who I thought had a really well organised defence. (It will be if Alfi's anything to do with it-Ed) It took an absolute screamer of a goal from Cocky in the last two minutes to get us the points after we had dominated most of the game but just could not score despite creating some good chances and some excellent defending.

Walsall Olympic 3 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 3

Not much to play for in this match as both teams are comfortably mid-table; Wolves not that far off promotion. The lack of competitive necessity can lighten the atmosphere, although not always. Walsall's Mark Webb takes up the tale: And I'll leave this unedited, save for spelling and grammatical changes. On the morning of the game, two Walsall lads pulled out for very different reasons. One guy suffered a masculine injury working out at the gym and the second guy had the very feminine excuse of going to watch Trinny and Susanna with his mommy! Setting our stall out for defence and counter-attack, we didn't play well, however managed to take a three goal lead. The first two from Nathan Brain, bringing his total to twenty-one goals in fourteen appearances this season. I denied him his hat-trick from the spot, electing to take it myself having been brought down. At the time, it seemed gentlemanly to appeal to the ref not to send off the keeper as I presumed we could hold a three goal lead. I was wrong. A painfully terrific comeback from W and P, slotting home three in under twenty minutes, the last of which thundered in from the edge of the dee. Our first draw of the season: handshakes all round.

Zion Athletic 6 St Boniface 1

Another pounding, or it appears so on paper or html, for St Boniface towards the end a disappointing season that had promised much more. Zion have improved a little and certainly look dangerous at times. They have the backbone of a top Division Two side with the Allens, Toomey and Hamilton bringing experience as the younger members of the squad mature I would expect even more next year. Zion Athletic are just two or three wins short of a promotion place this season. With a little more consistency, they may be in for a shout of promotion.

Saturday Review

Division One

City Church 1 Clarendon 2

City are still not mathematically down after today's defeat but it would take a long-shot for them to avoid the drop. If Sheldon beat St Matthew's on Wednesday night, then it's all over. The three relegated clubs would be City, Chawn and Solihull.

Whilst you would have expected a win for the League Champions, it may have been possible for them to have lifted off the gas from a selection or attitude point of view. Clarendon's Louis Williams texted a brief report: A Roger Moore header and Everton Morrison's penalty made the difference today. City missed gilt-edged chances and had they scored it could have been much different had they been converted. With double point-blank saves from Alton Stewart keeping the scores down to one gave us another great result . The game was played in a great spirit. Wishing City all the best for the rest of the season.

City's Martin Ogbourn adds: A gutsy, hard working team performance from City as we showed great heart and commitment. We worked hard all game, played some good football at times with a good attitude and created numerous chances, but were only able to convert one chance late on.

The first half was fairly even and City had some good openings, but were unable to convert any of them. Clarendon looked sharp in phases and played some quick passing moves, but they were unable to settle into their rhythm. However, their best chances came from long throws and they scored late on in the half from one of these long throws. This was frustrating as we played against the wind and slope in the first half and defended very well again.

In the second half City put the Champions under enormous pressure and dominated possession and scoring chances. However, Clarendon still looked dangerous on the quick counter-attack as we pushed more players forward. They scored from a penalty early in the half, but only had sporadic chances after that. Towards the end City forced the Clarendon keeper into several saves. Notably there were two point blank saves in succession - the second was saved by the side of the keeper's head, although I'm not sure how much he knew about it!!

City scored late on to give us hope, but it was too late to grab an equaliser. We certainly deserved something from the game, although Clarendon defended well and managed to block shots, tackle, win headers and cover, when required throughout the game. Congratulations to Clarendon for their League title and all the best for the Cup Final.

This game has not defined our season. In the final analysis it is the six games we have taken the lead in and failed to win (which ended in five draws and one defeat) which has cost us too many points.

Rowley College 3 Amblecote 5

Amblecote put themselves in pole position to take second spot, with the three clubs involved all having one game left. Amblecote must put last week's 0-6 defeat at Dynamo behind them as their last is the reverse fixture. St Mary's play Solihull away on 3 May and as previously mentioned St Matthew's travel to Sheldon this Wednesday.

Pete Bennett reports: Once again we were bettered by our long-time bogey team, though today I was relieved to have a full complement and not have to play. I also enjoyed the spectacle of two attack minded teams playing on a messy pitch (full marks to referee Ian Jeavons for getting the match on!) and keeping everyone entertained. To some extent it was a tale of two goalkeepers: we’d lost ours to work and Amblecote’s was back between the sticks. Luckily we have a perfectly competent replacement in Andy Rowe but that left a defence already bereft of our two centre halves looking even more makeshift and Amblecote exploited our understandable uncertainties especially in the first half. In their goal Dean Russell was excellent in the sense that he was dominant and decisive and when we had the advantage of the slope he was constantly there to thwart us. This was very much end-to-end with both sides creating and missing lots of chances but Dean was one of the reasons that they always looked more likely winners (and on reflection I think 5-3 wasn’t far off ).

As I’ve implied Amblecote had the slope and a little wind in the first half and came at us hard so it was a real lift when we took an early lead with Craig Micklewright showing what we’ve been missing for most of the season: round the keeper and slotted home. We then conceded two horrible goals (from our point of view) at the start of what was a concerted bombardment in terrible conditions for defenders. Firstly we failed to deal with a low cross to the edge of our six yard box forcing makeshift centre back Johnny Warr to slide in and block it straight to Jadon three yards out! Then Rowey confidently came to take a corner which he then spilled to present a second open goal (our lads feel he’d got a bit of a nudge but there you go. We were glad to get in at 1-2.

The second half was a little frustrating since we had a significant advantage but failed to use it despite playing some decent stuff. Chris Staien had gone to centre back and was outstanding as was Ross Hughes at left back. A word too for Andy Binder who was helping us out on a trip back from university. The sucker punch came early when Jadon slid in Rion Mills and he finished well (he deserved a goal and looks a real prospect). (He plans on signing for new club Champions Church next season-Ed). By now we were cranking up the pressure but with Jim looking decent at the back and the goalie dominant we were often snatching at shots (or blocking one anothers). When a similarly slick move left Amblecote 4-1 up it was all getting a bit depressing (since this was never a thrashing), but we kept going despite losing Johnny Warr and Craig was able to complete his hattrick (either side of a Tim Fellows’ goal). Both Craig’s goals were a) good finishes and b) a little controversial. The first was possibly the result of the linesman ‘balancing’ decisions: in the space of five minutes I saw Craig go in on the keeper twice. The first time he looked clearly (three yards?) onside and was flagged off, the second he looked clearly (five yards) off and no flag came. Ah well! The game ended also with a ‘marginal’ penalty decision as Dean Russell appeared to get the ball before he collided with our lad. Craig dispatched it. I’m still amazed how much football was played on such a pitch.

Simon Ashby adds: A good game yesterday against Rowley who over the years we always seem to do quite well against. Although 5-3 I think we always looked comfortable at 4-1 and 5-2 before a late penalty but it was a real battle in the wet and mud!

Good fun, on a bog of a pitch, but one which we all wanted the game to go ahead on so well done the ref for that. Rowley played well in stages and it was an old fashioned battle at times but some really well worked goals from us in the second half won the game.

Frustrating again as we have conceded more goals in the last two games as the previous fifteen! But despite losing five games in an up and down year, we can still get second with a win next week.

And lastly Amblecote's Jim Wilkes: A great game on a mud bath! The type of game that when you get home, you go straight to the washing machine put your kit bag and all the kit youv'e got left on in the washer, oh and not to mention your white boots! Go straight into the shower and need three bars of soap to clean! Loved it!

Good game full of mistakes either end, can't remember Rowley's first goal, I was clattered down by Deano who missed the ball but hit me. He apologised to me, I still wished he'd kick me and the ball! Their second and third I think Pete explained these well!

Both teams played in good spirit, some good performances either side, but as ever Rowley never give up, credit Pete!

Dynamo Kingswinford 3 Sheldon 2

Having picked their feet up in the last few weeks, Dynamo secure Division One football for next season with a 3-2 win over a Sheldon side with everything to play for. The win gives them ten points from twelve to take them past my theoretical 'twenty points for safety' margin. We'll see how that one pans out again by 3 May.

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale texted: Typical Saturday football, this week we were missing key players forcing us to play our keeper up front. Fair play to us all, we battled hard and never stopped trying. Praise to Ian Hopson who at forty-three years of age had to play in centre-mid. (You babbie I can hear Pete Bennett say-Ed).

That should be enough now I hope, my heart won't take much more!

Lyndon Fisher adds: On a blustery morning on the back of two victories, we really should have beaten Dynamo. We created a hatful of chances whilst controlling the game. Their goalkeeper made some fine saves and definately kept them in the match.

Division Two

E K Corinthia 1 St Thomas' Aldridge 5

A much better performance this week from EK made St Thomas' work for the points. EK's leading marksman Chris Morrison texted: We went one up through a Chris Morrison wonder goal and really played well. The score didn't really reflect the balance of play with us capitulating after our sending off.

Next week St Thomas' play King's in a highly crucial match. Obviously, St Thomas' need the points. If they beat King's and Halesowen slip up against Bilston or Selly Oak on 26th, then the Chapionship is theirs. However, a win for Selly Oak in their tie against Halesowen would mean they would take the third promotion place if King's don't win all three of their remain games against Bislton, Walsall and St Thomas'.

With three quality sides coming down and two out of three of Selly Oak, King's and Wolves staying down, Zion Athletic and Walsall improving it's not going to be an easy Division to escape from next year. I would anticipate that Bilston will put on a better show next year after they have settled down after last year's monumental shake up and EK have now experienced their a full season and learned from the year's football, it could be a cracking year. That's not to mention clubs coming up from Division Three in 2009. I'm jumping ahead a bit now and making assuptions, sorry.

Halesowen Zion 6 Walsall Olympic 1

I managed to watch some of this match today at Dudley Wood. I had dropped by to meet and watch the match on the other pitch: MBD United and Elim Athletic were playing a friendly. I moved over to the Halesowen-Walsall game at half time and was told that Zion had spent most of the half encamped in the Walsall end of the pitch. In fact, Mel Lewis the lineman was shivering because had had spent much of his time stood still. At half time the score was 1-0 to Halesowen, having hit the woodwork (rusty metal) three times.

The second half continued in the same vein; Halesowen even managed to hit the crossbar of the goal on the adjacent field, but on one of Walsall's rare break-away attacks Andy Marshall floated a deep cross-come-shot. The ball left stand-in keeper and club secretary stranded as it drifted over his head into the back of the net.

The goal panicked Halesowen a little. Walsall have had a good run recently, walloping EK 11-1 last week to add to wins against St Boniface and more notably a 1-0 win at King's. Halesowen kept plugging away and scored again to relieve a little stress, although Walsall continued to defend doggedly and threaten on the break. But the killer goal eventually came. Tom Doran worked hard in the box and eventually evaded his defender and rolled the ball across for Chris Noone to slot home from ten yards. They look easy but when you have to redirect the ball on a bobbly pitch, many end up in the car park. Noone made no mistake and the game was over. Walsall lost their resolve and Halesowen, free from the shackles and tension of needing the three points scored freely.

King's AFC 1 St Boniface 1

Promotion chasing King's stutter at home to struggling St Boniface. I've heard very little about this match, save to say that I was under the impression that St Boniface were having difficulty getting a side together. Either things go better throughout the week or a little propaganda was put out. A win for St Boniface in an interesting encounter against EK this Wednesday will secure tenth place for the Selly Park based team. Whereas King's season reaches it's climax on Saturday in their game at St Thomas'.

Zion Athletic 13 Sandwell United 1

Sandwell's season finishes with a whimper as their nine men get hammered by the strength of Zion. Zion's James Hamilton writes: Unfortunarely Sandwell could only muster nine players today, so this was a fraction one sided as they scoreline may suggest!! It got to the point where I was feeling more and more guilty as each goal went in. Much credit must go to the Sandwell players who never gave in despite the complete drubbing. They kept trying, and maintained their sense of humour throughout.

Last season was our first season in the league and we were in exactly the same position as Sandwell are now. When there is nothing much to play for it is difficult to keep the players motivated. But I sincerely hope that Sandwell will build on lessons learnt this year and build a stronger, more solid squad to last them the whole of next season.

Friendly matches

There were a couple of games played yesterday. St Matthew's and Selly Oak were both keeping their hand in with a game up in Walsall. Fixtures tend to peter out at this stage of the season and clubs sometimes get out of practice. There's nothing like a game for keeping your eye in. The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Martin Nicholls reports: Friendly this week against Selly Oak from Division Two. This match in some ways typified the second half of our season. The first thirty minutes we had plenty chances but failed to reach half time with more than one goal to the good. Nicholls gave St Matt's the lead after good work from Luke Hopson along the sideline followed by a cut back that Nicholls slotted home under a leaping Paul Beagen. A mixture of bad fortune and poor finishing meant we went in 1-0 up.

As the game progressed Selly grew in stature and as the sub count increased for both teams they notched an equaliser when their full back scored from what I reckon was a cross but I am sure he will claim otherwise. A draw was the least Selly deserved for a spirited second half display.

Perhaps more interestingly, was the match between two sides planning to apply to join WMCFL next season: MBD United and Elim Athletic. I got photos of both teams but both clubs had several key players missing, so the pictures will be replaced in due course. Jon Earp from Elim provided a match report: It was a good game today with both teams trying to find their feet for a new season. We got off to a great start with a good passing move down the right flank with Dean O’leary putting in a nice ball to Dave Hunter who quickly turned and put it into the corner. Dave quickly got his second of the game with another ball into feet from Dean from the right hand side. A quick turn and it was 2-0. Straight after the kick off MBD United went straight through middle of us, but fortunately our keeper Buzz pulled off a great one on one save. With the formation we are playing we we’re always getting men forward in support and the ball was played into Sean who decided to put it on the bar instead of the back of the net. Just before the break MBD United caught us sleeping on a corner, and with a goal mouth scramble the ball was quickly prodded home. Unfortunately an MBD player bent low to win a challenge and managed to find our strikers studs, which put him out for the rest of the game.

After the restart we looked disinterested, fortunately we managed to win a few headers in the middle of the park which set Sean Mckenna away on a quick attack who dribbled round the keeper who then squared it for Joe Croot to knock in from a yard out, to make it 3-1. Again quickly after the restart MBD caught us sleeping and got down our left flank. Their player beat our two defenders and the cross-come-shot went in over our goalies head, 3-2. It was pretty end-to-end in the second half, and we got down the left flank with Joe beating the right back and putting in a lovely ball to allow Dean O’leary to tap in: 4-2. Unfortunately for us pretty much straight away they we’re in our box again and made it 4-3. We made a few subs at this stage which put a bit of life back into us, and with six or seven of us going forward we got the ball across the box. With a quick pass from Chris, Sean bent it in over the keeper to make it 5-3. Just as both teams were seeing out the last few minutes MBD were awarded a penalty, and they made it 5-4.

All in all it was a good game and a good win for us and hopefully we can push on from here.

Ed - I spoke to Tracey and Jon at the match who would like to express their thanks for the kind messages sent through by many of you for Adam. Please keep them coming. He started his treatment and is benefitting from the words of encouragement.

So that's all folks this week. I normally get a few reports drifting in throughout Sunday and Monday, so I'll paste them in as and when they arrive. Please pencil the Cup Final into your diaries. As usual, it's at the Grove, the home of Halesowen Town FC and kicks off at 7.45 on Monday 21 April.

Wednesday Night Review

Division One

Sheldon 5 St Mary's 4

A crucial match for both clubs last night saw Sheldon come out on top in the odd goal in nine. They had been losing 3-1 at one point. The result hands the initiative back to Amblecote in the race for second place as the season draws to a close but the three clubs vying for the runners up spot are very closely packed.

Ironically, Sheldon can still come second but the points are invaluable in the fight against relegation. A couple more wins of their five remaining matches will guarantee top flight football next year.

Nick Sprason reported by text: We lost tonight to a much better organised and determined Sheldon side. We only had eleven men and it showed as we gave a really disappointing performance. Despite having several key players unavailable, there can be no excuses and Sheldon fully deserved to win.

Division Two

The bottom four clubs were involved in fixtures last night in what could turn out to be a crucial battle to avoid relegation to Division Three. We held an information meeting for clubs applying to enter WMCFL next season on Tuesday night. As a loyal Liverpool fan for 31 years, it shows the level of commitment I have to this League! Eight clubs were represented at the meeting, all of which put strong cases to be admitted to WMCFL, just one team was unable to attend.

If we retain all twenty-two teams and take on another nine, we would have thirty-one clubs meaning three divisions. Some of the Division Two sides could be relegated. There's a lot of water to go under the bridge yet. Not all the teams may proceed with their applications, (although they were all dead keen last Tuesday night) but nevertheless it spices up a section of the League Tables that normally is going dead at this stage of the year.

E K Corinthia 3 Brierley Hill 1

EK surpass the twenty point mark with a 3-1 win at home to Brierley Hill. EK's results are won 6, drawn 3 and lost 11, which is not a bad return for a new club. Chris Morrison texted: Glad to be back. Well done boys, let's build on it for the easy game against St Thomas'!

Sandwell United 0 St Boniface 1

Sandwell's Matt Holt texted: Totally gutted. We deserved at least a point, if not more. St Boniface's Simon Adams also sent: Chris 'Goal-Machine' Dowen scored for us.

The goal that Chris Dowen scored was the 100th that Sandwell conceded this season and also leap-frogs St Boniface over last night's opponents.

Saturday Review

Division One

Clarendon 6 Rowley College 1

First and foremost, congratulations to Clarendon on recapturing the title today. It's the third time they have won Division One in the five years they have competed, to add to the Second Division win in 2003 when they first entered the League.

Clarendon's Louis Williams texted: Mission Accomplished! A 6-1 victory today. A bit of the gloss was taken off it with Rowley only fielding ten men. But we did what we had to do. It's been a hard fought season but we've got there. Two seasons with no silverware was never good enough for us. One down, one to go! We look forward to the remaining games including the Cup Final.

Thanks to all involved in Clarendon: Roger Moore, and teh guys in the team and their families for their support. Louis

Clarendon's Ashley Innis adds: An emophatic win to seal another title. However, credit must go to Rowley who put up a spirited fight and battled to the end.

Pete Bennett emailed: Firstly congratulations to Clarendon, who are worthy Champions: they play with great style and with a terrific attitude! Also apologies from us today since we pitched up with only nine and I went on (at 46!) to make nine and a bit and in a competitive league this just isn’t good enough. Since the cup semi final we have suffered a series of injuries (and a couple of suspensions) but we’ve also been genuinely let down by that end of season feeling. At least for the guys who did turn up there was no lack of effort and application but the one team you don’t want to play in this league with nine plus a little fat bloke is Clarendon!

In blustery conditions we gave them an uncomfortable first fifteen minutes and actually had a couple of chances! Then they scored and started to stretch us and it was then about pride and discipline. In the first half their finishing was ruthless and they raced into a 4-0 lead. However we got one back through our man-of-the-match Chris McIvor just before half time and managed to negotiate the rest of the game with only two more concessions. It was a tremendous team effort and remarkably we had a number of attempts on goal in both halves. However there was only ever one winner and we saluted the champions at the whistle.

Incidentally a name to look out for in the middle today: Craig Taylor, a very assured sixteen year old (and I later discovered the son of referee Neil), had a very impressive game as ref: clear decisions and excellent communication.

Dynamo Kingswinford 6 Amblecote 0

Amblecote take a battering at the hands of a Dynamo team, spear-headed by an on-fire Chris Sweetmore. Gary Lamsdale texted: Dynamo 6 (six) Amblecote 0 (nil). One of those games. We were superb, Amblecote had an off day.

Amblecote's Jim Wilkes reports: We had the same defence out today but we just had one of those days. We really missed two key players, Dean Russell behind us in goal, who had not conceded in our last three. And Jadon Silva in front of us. But full credit to Dynamo! Sweetmore is the best striker I've seen in the six games I've played since returning from a four-year lay-off with the same injury as Ed (ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament). Dynamo were winning 5-0 after thirty minutes.

Jim is looking for a club to train with on a Wednesday night. Please email him at mintjim@hotmail.com if your club needs a few extra at training.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby adds: I must say, Saturday is why Greavsie coined football... 'a funny old game'.... having let just 15 goals in 15 games.... we found ourselves 5-0 down by half-time against a team who have only won 3 times this year.... football truly is a beautiful game and these things happen.

As mad as it sounds, I would rather lose like we did on Saturday, than to a last minute penalty, cos this way you just have to laugh to yourself and admit it happens once every five years that you have a first half like this. I think it shows why we all love to get up at 9am on a cold day though.....

We were missing a few key players, but really it was just one of those things. Everything that DK hit went in, and that was game over within half an hour. Must give a mention to their flying full back Andy Aston's Gazza style finish when looping it over one player before volleying in..... jammy so-and-so!

Well we play them again in 2 weeks.... hopefully we can keep it to five!

City Church 4 Renewal Solihull 0

I have made one or two errors in the League tables, which have now been corrected. I'd given City and Rowley extra points. My apologies. If you spot mistakes, on the site, please let me know.

City certainly are putting up a brave fight after looking like they were sunk. They now have fifteen points with two matches left. In reality, I think they need six points from their last two games: Clarendon and Sheldon, no easy task.

Martin Ogbourn reports on the game: An important three points for City as we keep our survival hopes alive. The win was thoroughly deserved after a good, hard working performance. All four goals were well finished. The pick of the goals was by Paul Snelgrove as he made a good run and chip past the on-rushing goalkeeper to complete the 4-0 scoreline.

The first half was tightly fought for the first thirty minutes, but City created the better chances and fully deseved their half-time lead after goals from Walter Mapako and a penalty by Daniel Atkins after he himself had been felled. Atkins worked tirelessly up front and held the ball up well which brought others into play to set up attacks.

During the second half we battled hard and defended well again to ensure our second clean sheet of the season. Louis Quaintance and Ross Fittall worked hard all game winning balls, making incisive runs and setting up play for others. As a team we created some more clear chances and also struck the crossbar from a good strike from Daniel Atkins. Andy Thomas and the aforementioned Snelgrove finished the scoring. Renewal had some good possession in midfield, but were unable to create any clear cut chances from open play.

It is now three good wins in a row for City (we have lost only one in six games) and we will go into our last two games with a more settled side and hopes for a Hudini escape after we were 'dead and buried' at the start of Feb!

Solihull's Brian Follows adds: After a bright start A battle weary Renewal where well beaten by a resurgent City side.

City closed down quickly all morning and reaped the benefits. Renewal's last defender getting caught in possession for the first goal. Then a harmless looking square ball with the player being caught by a late Renewal tackle led to the second via the resulting penalty. I thought Renewal should have been thrown a life line early second half. The ref blowing with the last City defender giving him a bear hug. We thought he was inside the box but instead of a penalty and a red card we got a free kick outside the box. When the Renewal keeper got robbed trying to usher the ball into his box for the third a miserable morning was complete. The fourth the best goal of the match which was the icing on the cake for City for a comfortable and deserved victory.

Sheldon 2 Chawn Hill Church 1

It's a good job the snow came down on Sunday morning and not twenty-four hours before as Sheldon still have six matches (one third of their fixtures) to play. They cleared one from the schedule yesterday and gained three crucial points whilst condemning Chawn Hill to Division Two football next season. Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher reports: A hard fought match today with both teams creating chances. Sheldon went ahead from a penalty then Chawn Hill equalised netting from a corner.

In the second half Sheldon's keeper made some fine saves as both teams pushed for the winner. Chris Davies hit the bar but then made amends by getting Sheldon's winner.

An important win for us taking us off the bottom. With the extra games we have, our fate is in our own hands.

Division Two

St Boniface 1 St Thomas' Aldridge 3

Congratulations to St Thomas' as they are promoted to Division One in a tough match against St Boniface. Notwithstanding the fact that there's nearly always a reconstituting of the Divisions, I am usually cautious to make such bold statements. However, I'm fairly sure that St Thomas' will be playing First Division football next season.

St Boniface's Simon Adams texted: A good competitive game. If only we could play with such determination every week.

Wolverhampton & Perton Churches 2 Halesowen Zion 2

Halesowen Zion lose a bit of ground on leaders St Thomas' as they draw 2-2 with Wolves and Perton. Wolves' Richard Webster texted: A bare eleven again today, with us down to ten when one player left to go to the Villa game. At that point we were 0-2 down following a great finish for the first (A great shot from outside the area with the outside of the foot from the Halesowen player) and a goal from a long throw that four W&P players couldn't clear.

The remaining ten W&P players dug deep, piling on the pressure to cap a great come-back. Fiirstly a from post header from Tom Baugh and secondly to equalise, a backward flick header from Roscoe Hale in the last couple of minutes of the game.

Great attitude carried us through and hopefully gives us something to build on for next year.

Halesowen's Grant Doran emailed: The season is in danger of finishing a little bit flat for Halesowen Zion having dropped four points out of the last nine at the wrong time. Yesterday saw both teams lacking numbers but still offered some entertaining football. W&P started brightly and had the first chance of the game from a corner which was put wide from about three feet through a combination of striker and two defenders. Zion created a great opening for Skellern but he was thwarted by a good one on one save from the home keeper. The opening goal was a great solo effort from Cockcroft, picking up the ball mid way in W&P’s half before beating a man and bending it in from just out side the box with the outside of his boot.

A good first half performance from Zion was made even better when ten minutes into the second half we notched our second. Not as pretty as the first goal but they all count. Skell prodded the ball home from close range after a long throw caused panic in the home defence. Not long after, Wolves lost a man to the Villa game which appeared to be the cue for Zion to stop playing. Instead of the football we had been producing we started panicking and kicking the ball either out of play or back to W&P. Full credit must go the home team though as they pushed forward and started to ask questions of a very wobbly looking defence. With Wolves spending much of the last twenty-five minutes camped in Zion’s half, chances were bound to fall their way and so it proved as a long throw was well met at the front post and headed home. Zion managed to hang on till the last two minutes before another long throw was again met by a Wolves player with the same outcome. All in all it was a pretty even match and could have gone either way.

Zion need to focus on getting the remaining 9 points available and finishing the season on a high.

Selly Oak Methodist 3 Brierley Hill 1

Another stubborn performance from Brierley Hill keeps Selly Oak honest as they continue to pursue the third promotion place. Selly Oak's Jason Weston-Tate takes up the tale: Selly Oaks last but one game of the season. We finished the game with a convincing but not spectacular win against a tough Brierley Hill side. Joel Richards started the scoring with a nice finish early on. It got me thinking it was going to be one of those days where everything will go in. But Brieley Hill turned out to not be an easy team to beat and at half time it was 1-1.

After a changing back to four-four-two and playing more direct through the centre, we managed to get in the lead with Michael Knowles scoring his eighteenth goal of the season and pushing him closer to winning a personal bet I made with him about the amount of goals he will get by then end of the season. Our third was scored from the penalty spot by Nathaniel Regisford low into the bottom corner. We also had a goal disallowed for offside.

We now have two weeks off until we play Halesowen Zion in a game that could decide both who gets promoted and who wins the League.

AFC Zion 4 King's 6

A cracking game at Windsor High School in Halesowen. King's opened the scoring very early on. There was some deliberation concerning the goal. A Zion player handled the ball on the line before it ended up in the net. I was pleased to see a goal awarded and the player remain on the pitch. Zion soon equalised through James Toomey. Stand-in keeper Dan Smith came rushing out and Toomey, darting past the last defender, was able to nick the ball away and around the keeper and slot the ball in.

King's went ahead again after a long throw was headed on at the near post. Dave Smith then extended the lead with a thumping left foot finish from twelve yards; his first goal for King's. I was told that he had a few chances last week, but has just settled resulting damages inflicted on a nearby greenhouse.

King's came out in positive fashion for the second half, scoring straight away through Tim Oruye. He knows how to celebrate a goal. At 4-1, the match appeared to be dead and buried. But King's celebrations were short-lived as Reece Taylor broke away stright from the kick-off slotting in at the near post. Zion pulled things together and made life very uncomfortable for King's scoring a third again through Reece Taylor. With their eyes on third place and an instant return to Division One, King's needed this win today. Their nerves were settled somewhat with a lovely fifth scored by Martin Lees. He jinked past a defender and let rip with an unstoppable shot from the edge of the area into the left corner of the net.

Back came Zion with another through James Toomey to make it 5-4. This match could have gone either way at this point but it was big Tim Oruye who completed his hat-trick to bring the points home for King's.

The run for third place is still wide open but is now between two clubs: Selly Oak and King's. King's have four matches left: Next Saturday they play St Boniface, which you would expect them to win. However, St Boniface gave St Thomas' a run for their money yesterday. Then it's the big one: St Thomas' at home. With St Thomas' chasing the Division two crown, it should be a great game. King's then take on Walsall Olympic away. Again you'd expect King's to win but just four weeks ago, Walsall beat King's 1-0 in the corresponding fixture. However, it may have been the wake-up call King's needed as they have scored twenty-six times in the following four matches.

King's then complete their fixtures with a home tie against Bilston Beacons.

Walsall Olympic 11 EK Corinthia 1

Walsall catch EK on an off day and capitalise on the opportunity, scoring eleven goals. That's nine victories this season, a far-cry from the five points they earned last year.

Sandwell United 1 Bilston Beacons 2

A tight game between two teams that have struggled at times this year. The difference was Bilston's Ashley Hamer who netted twice for his team.

Disciplinary Statistics

Please see below the disciplinary standings for our clubs. Whilst there are a few hot spots, generally the League is doing well with many clubs on just a few cards. Incidentally, two of our most successful sides this season, Clarendon and St Mary's have just seven cards between them, proving that you can win without a fight.

Saturday Review

Division One

Dynamo Kingswinford 0 Clarendon 0

Clarendon move to within one win of their third League title with a slightly surprising nil-nil draw away at Dynamo. No offence to Dynamo but Clarendon have been ploughing through their results like a knife through butter. It bodes well for Dynamo's fight against relegation.

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale reports: An epic performance by DK. We defended as a team and created four good chances and restricted them to a similar number. Great spirit!

Clarendon's Louis Williams also texted: A hard fought game, both teams hitting the bar but with a 0-0 draw the title is within sight.

Amblecote 0 St Mary's 0

Oddly, the chase for second place also ended in a goal-less stalemate. A win for either side would have been a major advantage but as it is, the result brings St Matthew's back into the equation.

St Mary's Nick Sprason texted: Amblecote and St Mary's ground out a 0-0 draw today. Amblecote had the better chances and keeper Gethin earned his clean sheet bonus. St mary's will be the happier and with several key players out, deserved the point. The fight for second place continues.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby adds: A really good game today. Very similar to our home 0-0 v Clarendon earlier in the season, where both teams were on good form and cancelled each other out for much of the game.

We had the better chances and should have converted one of a number of one on ones but overall the score reflected how close the two teams are to each other.

Second place is still in our hands and winning the last three games will seal it for us.

Rowley 0 St Matthew's 2

St Matt's bounce back from a disappointing set of results this side of Christmas with a 2-0 win at Rowley to retake third position. Martin Nicholls texted: A good turn out and a stronger St Matthew's than in recent weeks ensured a good win. The Rowley keeper played well and kept the score respectable for his team.

Pete Bennett adds: When both teams turned up in January to play this match originally we were bedding into a good little run of form and had, I remember, all of our players available for selection (and St Matts were in the middle of their injury crisis). Today I had a better team unavailable than the one I was able to field but that’s the way it goes. I know from Martin’s regular reports (and it’s so much harder to comment when you’re losing) that St Matts have had similar problems and have always appreciated his unwillingness to look for excuses (even in the most trying circumstances when a possible title is slipping away) and I intend to follow his lead.

I was very happy to get fourteen players today and for a good deal of endeavour in horrible conditions. From our point of view the key moments centred around our stand-in captain Rob Hill: he won the toss and inexplicably kicked with the wind first half: he then played an almost faultless twenty minutes of commanding football at centre half before overstretching and having to come off. Within five minutes we were one down as we struggled to reorganize and had seen a good chance headed onto the post by Matt Stanton. Pretty much from this point on St Matts had the game by the scruff of the neck and despite Mark Southall’s best efforts to provide us with an option forward and Olly Staien’s tireless running we simply didn’t have enough footballing quality to genuinely offer a threat. Dave Broome had a terrific game for them in midfield while we had lots of ‘glimpses’ but nothing substantial, though Nic Hadley, making a rare appearance as sub did remind me what a talented player he is on the ball.

Credit must also go to our goalkeeper Alun Inett who was our man-of-the-match with a string of saves on a day where everything was difficult for goalies. With the wind St Matts had lots of chances and the one Martin poached was the least they deserved while we battled on with that horrible feeling of a season that’s just gone on a little too long!

Renewal Solihull 1 Chawn Hill Church 1

It's an old cliche but this result will benefit neither side. I said to myself before this match was played, that whoever loses this one will go down. Well neither did. I used to say that you needed twenty points for safety but when Wolves and Bilston went down with twenty-one and twenty, that theory went out of the window. Chawn have one match left and only thirteen points on the board, they will be lucky to escape. They complete their fixtures next week away at bottom placed Sheldon, also fighting for survival. By my calculations, if Chawn lose they are down.

Division Two

St Thomas Aldridge 5 Brierley Hill AOG 2

St Thomas' stay on top of Division Two with an expected 5-2 win at home to Brierley Hill. More notably, Mark Hadden scored four goals. My my reckoning, that takes his total to eighty since we've been counting. It also means that he userps Martin Nicholls as the official Goal King of WMCFL. I can hear Fellows and Swain muttering.

St Thomas' Rob Hill says: Congratulations to a very proud Carl Wakelam of Brierley Hill who today achieved a lifetime ambition by playing in the same team as his two teenage sons for the first time.

Referee Jon Nott adds: I was in the middle for the St Thomas v Brierely Hill game and I must say that the scoreline flattered St Thomas'. Brierley Hill were excellent yesterday and never gave up. They went in 2-1 down at half time after missing a penalty.

In the second half, St Thomas' scored straight from the kick off but Brierley hill just never gave up. The only difference between the two teams yesterday was Mark Hadden. If Brierley Hill had someone like him then it would have been a different scoreline.

Special credit must go to Carl Wakelham who just never stops trying and kept the whole team going yesterday.

St Boniface 0 Halesowen Zion 8

Halesowen Zion remain in second, trailing St Thomas' by a point but with a vastly superior goal difference, helped by their 8-0 win against St Boniface. Another notable milestone was Tom Doran's five goals, bringing his total to thirty-four this season, another record.

Selly Oak Methodist 7 Zion Athletic 1

There is definately an arguement for playing a team at a certain time and it definately wasn't Zion's day today. Had these sides met six weeks ago, the scores may have been considerably closer. But Selly Oak are back in the groove and chasing that third promotion place.

Zion's Jallen texted: The score line says it all. We played a team with more luck, more desire, effort and passion. Well done Selly Oak.

Selly Oak coach Jason Weston-Tate takes up the tale: It was a nice day to be at Raddlebarn Park to witness goals, as we won 7-1 and on the pitch next to us Halesowen won 8-0 against St.Boniface. Selly Oak went 1-0 down to a in swinging corner that our goalkeeper was unlucky only to claw into his own goal. Our keeper more than made up for it throughout the game though with a couple of vital saves and solid command in the air. At 1-0 down we seemed to wake up and start to play football and by half time we were 3-1 up down to an own goal: Agreat free kick from our ever-busy Jamie Williams, and a scrappy goal from our striker Knowles who has been itching to get back to goal scoring form.

At half time any team would be more than happy with 3-1 up but we knew that third place could even end up going down to goal difference so we knew we had to keep it tight at the back and push to get a couple more. In the second half we played well and were unlucky to have a few offsides given against us when through one on one. We still played well and scored two more against Zion's first choice keeper. Both were scored by Knowles in similar fashion, slipped under the keeper. We scored two more late on against an outfielder who had to go in goal because of injury to their keeper. Knowles tapped in off his knee from a corner and lastly by super-sub Laurence Belgrave who scored with a nice first touch to beat the defender and then shot across goal in to the far corner.

It looks like we are back on form now having scored sixteen in the last three and having only let in two. The thing is, our rivals for third place, King's also look like they're scoring goals for fun. So we are in for an exciting finish to the League.

Sandwell United 0 King's 4

King's cruise past Sandwell to keep the pressure on Selly Oak with goals from Noel McWhirter, Tim Oruye, Dan Smith and Dan Richards. King's have five games left, three more than Selly Oak and are six points behind. They also have a slightly superior goal difference at this point in time.

I'm sure there will be some twists and turns before the season is completed.

Bilston Beacons 3 E K Corinthia 1

This match was moved to Birchley as there was a fallen tree across the pitch. It was a good job it didn't happen whilst we were there. Joking aside, people can get hurt.

Despite losing a few of their last few games, Bilston are a better side than they were six moths ago and it's no surprise that they won today. EK are in a rut at the moment, one I'm sure they will recover from soon. EK's Chris Morrison concurs: We could have scored a few more today but we're on a bit of a bad run.

Saturday Review

A quiet week-end for WMCFL as just six games are played on a Saturday that we had previously intended to keep free.

Division One

Clarendon 1 Chawn Hill Church 0

Everton Morrison rescues the points for a below par Clarendon in difficult conditions down at Moor Lane. Clarendon's Louis Williams texts: One of our worst performances all season, the weather did not help. Everton Morrison came up trumps in the 87th minute just after Chawn had a goal disallowed. Chawn were unlucky, they could easily have won this one.

Chawn's Neil Kovacs adds: Chawn lost 1-0 in a fantastic comptetive game. We had a goal disallowed with five minutes to go, then conceded as Clarendon attacked. Both clubs were excellent today.

Amblecote 2 St Matthew's 0

Amblecote leap-frog St Matthew's into third place with a 2-0 win. Simon Ashby reports: Terrible conditions yesterday with both goalkeepers struggling to reach anywhere near halfway for much of the game when playing into the wind.

We managed to kick with the wind in the first half and got a very early goal from a corner through Jadon Silva, and were the better team for the rest of the half without creating loads of chances. We werent sure if one would be enough with such a wind advantage.

The second half proved the point, with us being penned back for the first twenty minutes and very rarely getting forward. The good thing was though, much like us in the first half St Matt's were tempted by the wind and produced a lot of over-hit balls and shots from distance which flew miles behind the goal and struggled to create too much.

We held on somehow and grabbed the second right near the end, just seconds after St Matt's had missed their best chance of the game. I do feel a bit for St Matt's, as when we lost 2-1 earlier in the year, three of their better players on the day Woody, David Broome and Marvin Nisbett were not on show yesterday and I am sure their absences have been a factor in recent losses. Sure they will on form next year though and it will make for a good title race again.

Looks like Clarendon have sailed it, but our game with St Mary's next week should now be a second place play-off match. Just one note for our keeper and defence as yesterday was our 8th clean sheet in 14 league games! not bad at all lads.


Division Two

Bilston 2 St Thomas' Aldridge 4

A Mark Hadden hat-trick helps his team retake the leadership of the Second Division. Mark has not been firing as many goals in of late but yesterday saw him back on form. Bilston are back in ninth place but improving all the time. I would think they will do better next season.

Halesowen Zion 1 Selly Oak Methodist 3

Yesterday saw Selly Oak return to the form that saw them qualify for the Cup Semi-Finals and drive them into the promotion places at the top of Division Two. Halesowen's secretary Dave Walters reports: A well below par performance from us today, not helped by enforced changes due to the holiday and the weather. Taking nothing away from Selly Oak, they played well and deserved their win.

The first half saw us with the majority of possession and territory and created three good chances, two of which were well missed the other well saved. Selly Oak's first goal came from a miss-hit free kick which grubbed along pitch and surprised everyone but their player took advantage to turn and score and left them leading 1-0 at the break.

The second half saw the visitors dominate, soon doubling their lead after six mins. Despite us pulling one back through Tom Doran, we never looked like getting a result today especially after Selly Oak's third from route one was helped in by the wind.

Rob O'Neill adds: A well deserved win today as we became only the second team this season to beat Halesowen. We have also finished the last of our away matches today. We have only lost one all season in both Cup and League which was against promotion rivals King's. The wind today was a huge factor. As a sub I helped warm up our keeper Josh and straight away noticed how much the wind was taking the ball once in flight.

We started the match pretty lively, however Halesowen made better use of the ball early on and our midfield had to battle to get possession. Both teams looked edgy once the ball was in the air and chances were coming from defenders on both teams misjudging the flight of the ball. As the half went on, Selly Oak started to take the initiative once again, using the undeniable pace and footwork of our midfield notably Jamie Williams and Nathaniel Regisford and it was these two who would combine to make our first goal. A free Kick on the right hand side of the area was scuffed into the box by Jamie and fell to Nathaniel’s feet he held of the defender for a few seconds before tuning and striking the ball across goal and into the top of the net. This notably lifted the whole team and suddenly we weren’t worried about playing top of the league we just started playing our football and when half time blew at 1-0 the team walked off full of confidence.

In the second half, we had the wind in our favour. Lofted through balls and goal kicks were carrying a lot further giving our forwards things to chase. Our second goal came reasonably early from Joel Richards, who in the first half battled past three players only to make a mess of the finish. He didn’t make the same mistake this time, cutting inside from the near side and swinging the ball across goal into the bottom corner. Halesowen never gave up though and that man Doran (which one, there are three?Ed) popped up to get them back into the game. Rather than celebrate, they picked the ball out of the net and ran back to the half eager to snatch an equaliser and for about ten minutes they started to get a foothold in the match.

Jason Weston-Tate sent the subs (including me) to warm up round the pitch, which gave me a superb behind the goal vantage point of our third and match clincher. A long ball forward beat the defence. Michael Knowles and one of their defenders sprinted towards the ball, the keeper also joined the chase running off his line but it was Michael that got there first and he neatly flicked the ball over the approaching keeper for 3-1. A great result for us however to challenge for promotion we realistically need to win our last three games and hope King's slip up at least once for it to go to goal difference. (A battle they are currently winning with sixteen goals in two games). We have three tough games Zion Athletic, Brierley Hill (they may be bottom but can be obstinate-Ed) who always cause us problems and Halesowen Zion again however if we win these Kings would HAVE to win all six of their remaining fixtures to finish above us on points and they still have St. Thomas' and Zion Athletic in their run in. It should be exciting either way and to finish even in the top five we’ve done ourselves proud and who knows what seven new teams and a league re-shuffle might bring (If we kept the current two league system).

Ed - This looks likely to be a fantastic end to the championship. It's far from over, with both the top sides facing some tough games and just one point in it with five each to go.

St Boniface 0 King's AFC 6

Congratulations to St Boniface's Rob Seward who got married very recently. Paul Cliff reported the result in his absence, thanks Paul, and reported by text: It was a good game considering the conditions. Three goals in the last ten minutes flattered King's somewhat.

Ed - After a brief blip last week against Walsall. (The word is that they were unlucky). It's back to the business of promotion this week-end. I think that it would be a long shot for King's to overtake either Halesowen or St Thomas', let alone both but third place will be a close run thing with Selly Oak and Wolves are not completely out of it.

Sandwell United 3 E K Corinthia 0

After a promising pre-season, E K suffered a difficult start to life in WMCFL. New clubs take note: League football week-in, week-out is no picnic. E K seemed to be hitting a groove of late but once again the wheels seemed to have jumped off the rails. I could list many clubs that suffered sometimes long bedding in periods, season after season of poor performances before turning into far better teams. These include: St Mary's, St Matthew's, Halesowen Zion and more recently Selly Oak and Walsall.

Sandwell's Matt Holt reports: With one win, one draw and one loss in our last three games, I suppose this game could have gone either way. With a third choice goalkeeper and rearranged defence, Sandwell set about creating chances in the first half. The weather didn't help either team but we started to play some very good football and after about thirty minutes we were three nil up with goals from Damion Howell, Scott Snow (my tip for future WMCFL stardom) and Martyn Vaughan (pen). We continued to play, which in my mind, is some of our best football all season and could have been five up at half time but from saves from the EK goal keeper.

In the second half it was a more balanced affair as EK started to keep the ball and created a couple of chances. Sandwell managed to match EK and most of the football was played in the midfield. Sandwell came close with a couple of chances and EK nearly pulled one back as Chris Morrison had a good chance which our keeper saved. With no more goals in the second half it finished 3-0.

As I was in goal I could see all our play and this game was my personal favourite. The defence were strong and stuck to task (probably doesn't help be shouted at by me for the entire game), the midfield passed the ball and created chances for the forwards and they in turn linked up very well. But the best thing for me was their communication. For once they didn't argue amongst themselves. Congratulations on the result lads, fully deserved. Just need to do it again next week.

Ogochukwu Obiakor

Just thought you might be interested in the far-reaching influence of the WMCFL. We now help ex-professionals re-launch their careers:

As anyone who has played us recently will testify, St Boniface have posed a considerable lack of threat in front of goal of late, mainly due to the loss of talismanic striker Obi. In January he was offered a trial and then a contract in Algeria, playing for 1st division side USM Blida. As anyone who has researched the big Nigerian's career, he played at top level in Africa, winning the African Cup Winners' Cup for his club Etoile Sahel in 2003, before a serious knee injury in a clash with the then Ivory Coast National Keeper Joel Tizie meant a lengthy lay off, and his contract not being renewed. Obviously a massive blow to Obi who had been called up to Nigerian U23 squad and was tipped for a full squad call-up.

Anyhow, I digress. The point is Obi has now made his debut for the USM Blida in a 2-0 defeat away at USM Alger. As it was only 1-0 when Obi was substituted, you could conclude that things got twice as bad after they took him off!

Just thought you might be interested in the far-reaching influence of the WMCFL. We now help ex-professionals re-launch their careers.

Simon Adams

West Bromwich Junior Church Football League

The West Bromwich Junior Church Football League, (www.wbjcfl.co.uk) affiliated to the Birmingham County F.A. are now accepting new teams at the following age groups for the forthcoming season 2008/2009.

Under 10 (School years 4&5 from Sept 2008) 7-a-side

Under 12 (School years 6&7 from Sept 2008) 7-a-side

Under 14 (School years 8&9 from Sept 2008) 11-a-side

Under 16 (School years 10&11 from Sept 2008) 11-a-side

All matches are played on Saturday mornings at the Holly Lodge School, Holly Lane Smethwick, B67 7JG, located five minutes from Junction 1 M5.

This is an ideal project to do with other churches in your area forming new and developing existing inter church relationships.

It is a great opportunity for the children in your church to invite friends along to participate in a well organised sports activity.

For further information please contact the League Secretary, Derek Jones on Tel: 01384 560456 / Mob: 07973 617844 / Email: derek@wbjcfl.co.uk

Saturday Review

Division One

St Matthew's 1 Clarendon 4

It was top versus second in Division One today as Clarendon visited St Matthew's. But the new Champions elect repeat their result against a St Matthew's team that seem to have lost their way of late. A Dave Cooper hat-trick and another from Division One leading scorer Everton Morrison gave them the points in what could turn out to be Clarendon's best ever.

St Mary's 4 Dynamo Kingswinford 0

The ever improving St Mary's move into second place with a solid 4-0 win at home to Dynamo. Jon Jackaman texted: It was the usual battle against DK. The two penalties helped us to settle and we soon took control, restricting Dynamo to no real chances of note. A special mention to Tom Locke who was outstanding at left-back and won both penalties through his forward runs. Overall another pleasing performance as we continue to grow as a team. Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale adds: We thought the first penalty was harsh but after that we were well beaten. St mary's John Myatt also texted: (He was my man of the match last week-Ed): St Mary's dispatched DK with a ruthless performance. (Gareth Powell used to criticise his team for being too soft-Ed). We never looked like getting anything less than a win.

St Mary's are truly in a purple patch. Their League form continues to improve and will probably have a best ever finish, again. Combine that with their second Cup Final appearance in two years leaves the Aldridge side enjoying life at the moment.

The result also leaves the First Division split in two. There is Clarendon, who seem unstoppable at present and those who are competing for second spot. Then there are five clubs who are battling against relegation.

Chawn Hill Church 0 Amblecote 1

A single Jon Dowman goal wins the third meeting this season between these two local rivals. Amblecote have come out on top in all three games this year, but they have all been settled by the odd goal. Amblecote have a realistic chance of securing the runners up spot, whilst Chawn remain in trouble with just twelve points from fifteen games.

Rowley College 1 Renewal Solihull 2

As predicted Solihull turn it on when needed. They take three vital points off Rowley College who slip to fifth. Solihull have a knack of escaping relegation. The result leaves Sheldon bottom but they have several games in hand. Pete Bennett emailed this report: Solihull have always been, to my mind, the most unpredictable team in WMCFL: you never quite know what you’re going to get (as Wolves and Perton most famously found out in the Cup final not so long ago). Two weeks ago we played very well to beat a strong Solihull side and today we were a little ‘lighter’ player-wise and they (contrary to my hopes) seemed even stronger (in every sense, bigger and better). Add to this an interesting psychology: us with our eyes on the top three, them with theirs' on escaping the bottom three; and you have a second imbalance (the latter, I’m afraid is stronger). The result was a decent football match, which I guess we shouldn’t have lost but which Solihull also did enough to win.

For the first twenty minutes we were overwhelmed: Jon Follows gave us trouble all morning and Solihull had a number of attempts. This was not a hangover from last week’s semi but it wasn’t helped by adding Southall, Hunter and Rowe to the unavailables from last week. The game then changed via two penalties. The first was something of a disaster for us since we were attacking and Ollie Staien’s desire to keep the ball in (and us going forward) resulted in him splitting our defence and as their lad outstripped Matty Stanton, Matt clipped his ankle for a definite penalty. Minutes later (after their centre half had got one) Brian was wondering why this wasn’t a red card. All I can say is that there was still quite a bit for the forward to do (it was quite wide with other defenders central). No sooner had they scored their spot kick than they were conceding one. Confusion between goalkeeper and centre half allowed Alan Micklewright to wriggle free of both of them and Tony Tuiyott simply pulled him down to stop him from putting it over the line. I don’t think the ref could avoid a red card in this case.

Suddenly having been second best we had the chance to be best and, from our point of view, a better game developed. Our hope was that Solihull’s ‘experienced’ team would run out of legs: the fact that they didn’t is testimony to them since from then on we largely played it the right way (in every sense): wide and to feet. The two outstanding players, for me, were opposed in midfield and were the respective captains: Dennis Bailey and John Warr: in the second half in particular they respectively held their teams together and drove them forward. On this form Warr surely has another season (or two) in him. We conceded the winner (though we didn’t know it at the time) on the stroke of half time. I guess we were a little slow to close Jon Follows down but at 35/40 yards out his lofted drive was perfection.

The second half was a cracker. Of course winning (even scrappily) is the shortest route to football happiness but there are some days where the way you play, even in defeat, also brings satisfaction. We played good football today: out from the back where Stanton and Turton were outstanding and full back Wheeler showed great composure and Rob Hill (who’d guested all across midfield before settling back as right back) was his usual immaculate self (in fact he’s so good every week he rarely gets a mention). We also welcomed back Chris McIvor from injury and he delivered thirty minutes of much needed endeavour and quality. I don’t think we could have done more and yet Solihull matched us defensively and were rarely desperate in their attempts to keep us out. When Alan Micklewright slipped the defensive net in the last ten minutes and, caught in two minds, could only find the keeper’s gloves, I knew the game was up and a delighted Solihull were left to practice whistling ‘the Great Escape’ once again.

Good luck to Brian and his lads.

Division Two

St Thomas' 1 Halesowen Zion 2

The top two met in Division Two as well and the scoreline was much closer. Halesowen's Grant Doran emailed a report: Today's game was a match up between the top two teams and the top two scorers in the League, so much hype surrounded the game.

The first half started with St Thomas' playing most of the football in or around Zion's box, which lead to two great chances for them to take the lead, only matched by two great defensive blocks from Nicky Bennett and Andy Davis. Chris Noon made a point blank save from another St T's corner before Halesowen made any impact with a free flowing move that clipped the base of the post. Despite the League's top scorers playing on both sides neither player had any real opportunity to add to their total. Tom Doran nearly altered this though as he hit a snap shot from the edge of the box onto the bar with half time approaching. At half time we felt we had performed fairly well and were happy with a 0-0 score.

John Williams stressed the need to start well in the second half, so he must have been fearing the worst when after two minutes we were 1-0 down. A long ball pulled both centre backs out of position and left Brady to slide the ball past the keeper from the edge of the box. For the next fifteen it was real backs-to-the-wall time for Halesowen as St T's pushed hard to get the second goal that would have taken the points. However after a couple of missed chances for St T's, Zion started to settle and began creating a few chances of our own. Surprisingly Halesowen equalised through a set piece and header at the back post which is a real strong point of Aldridge's game. A deep corner from Ben Doran was met at the back post by Tom Skellern to head the ball into the net. Although 1-1 would have been a respectable result we knew that it would have made no difference to the league standings. So Zion continued to push forward clipping the bar (again) and post. With only five minutes left of the game, Halesowen got a free kick twenty-five yards from goal, bang in the centre of the pitch. As the home team set the up wall, Zion subbed Jon Lea replacing him with Paul Debney and the rest as they say is history. Cocky took the free which was spilt by the home keeper straight to Debney five yards out who shinned the ball with total precision into the open net.

Although the result has put Zion in a very good position we still have to play some very difficult games so nothing has been won yet.

Rob Hill St Thomas' Secretary emailed: A cracking game, superbly refereed between two well matched sides, which could have gone either way. Good luck to Halesowen who are an excellent young side.

Dave Walters adds: A close top of the table battle today, with some good football by both sides (and well refereed). At half time it was still goalless with St T's having a good effort saved by Chris Noon in our goal, and us hitting the post twice through Chris Bennett and a St T's defender. The start of the second half saw St T's come out fired up and scoring almost from the kick off through a Hadden flick on header to Brady who beat our keeper to the ball to slot home. After that they pressured our goal for a good period, but eventually we started to play again and scored an equaliser with a Tom Skellern header from a wicked Ben Doran corner. Further chances were had by both teams but with a couple of mins to go St T's conceded a free kick just outside the box which was struck and parried by the keeper and Paul Debney (a second half sub) was on hand to knock in the rebound giving us all the points. St T's will feel disappointed to lose but we are obviously delighted to get the win that sees us top of the table again.

St Thomas' lose that unbeaten record in the League, leaving just Clarendon out of the two Divisions unbeaten. Even they lost to Chawn in the Cup!

Bilston Beacons 1 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 4

I popped along to this game to get photos of the teams, both of which were in need of renewal. Have a look on the clubs pages, they are both looking smarter and up to date. I ended up staying, which I didn't mind today as I was at a loose end, because Wolves only had eleven players, so I 'ran' their line. I'm still recovering from knee surgery, but I don't think it will be too long before I can run properly again.

Farley Park was quite a pleasant environment for football today. There was plenty of grass on the pitch, it was dry and fairly warm with no wind. The match started evenly, with not much between the sides. Wolves were then awarded a penalty for a bit of a soft foul in the box. Oliver Jones made no mistake. 1-0 seemed a bit unfair to Bilston as there had been nothing in the match. Wolves squandered a few half chances but were two in front with a nice goal from Tom Baugh. Bilston cleared a corner back to the taker, who floated the ball back in for Tom to head home from ten yards.

Bilston were on top for the first fifteen of the second half. Wolves had a strong defence today, Roscoe Hale particularly impressed me at centre-half. But Wolves are blessed with plenty of experience all over the park, let alone at the back and with Richie Webster in goal, Bilston really struggled to break them down. The third Wolves goal finally came half way through the second half and with it the game was over. Jason Parmar broke down the right wing, out-pacing the left back and crossed for Oliver Jones to score his twentieth League goal of the campaign.

Bilston were back in it shortly after as Hale fouled the Bilston striker in the box; his only mistake of the match. Richard saved the first effort from Ashley Hamer, but Mel Lewis, the referee ordered the spot kick to be retaken as several Wolves players had encroached. Rich nearly saved the second attempt but couldn't get enough on the shot. Steve McGarry finished the game off with a cool finish at the death to make it 4-1, side-stepping the defender and placing a trickling shot right in the corner teasing the keeper.

Bilston are looking a better side than earlier in the season. More organised and they had fifteen players to choose from. Alfi Westwood was leading from the back, dominating his part of the pitch with passion as usual. Bilston were broken up by large-scale departures but have rebuilt well. Wolves seemed to lack a bit of spark. They can still get back into Division One if results go their way, but probably won't. Their body language showed. They seemed to enjoy the match though.

Sandwell United 0 Selly Oak Methodist 6

Selly Oak end their drab run of results with a 6-0 win over Division Two strugglers Sandwell United. Nathaniel Regisford lead the way with a hat-trick for his team. With respect to Sandwell, I think this result was expected. Selly Oak face a sterner test against Halesowen Zion next Saturday.

Brierley Hill AOG 1 Zion Athletic 3

Brierley Hill put up another stubborn performance against one of the promotion contenders. They went down 3-1 to Zion Athletic. It's nice to see that despite their bottom of the table placing they are not getting tonked every Saturday. Zion are still in with a shout of promotion, although I think King's are favourites for third spot. It does concern me that whoever goes up in third will be able to cope with Division One.

E K Corinthia 1 King's AFC 10

From this performance, you would perhaps suggest that King's are man for the job of Division One football. All I have to report on is a text from EK's Chris Morrison saying 'don't ask' and the 10-1 result. I guess it was one of those days, we've all been there. Whether you are a player, manager, referee or spectator, there are days when you think to yourself 'why am I doing this?' Thankfully, it doesn't happen every week. EK just need to put it behind them and move on. For King's, it's the ideal tonic to built a run to launch their promotion campaign.

Walsall Olympic 3 St Boniface 2

Another three points for the team who managed just one win last season and another three dropped for St Boniface. Simon Adams texted: A disappointing 3-2 defeat in a game we should have won. We were punished for individual errors. All three of our keepers were unavailable, so our left back stepped in and he did well too!

Roger Lynch from Riverside Church is raising money for Christian Mission in Africa through selling a large stock of footballs he has aquired. He is looking for £3 a ball, every penny of which goes to charity.

Anyone interested should contact Roger on 07817 481843 or rogerl@riverside-church.org.uk for further details.

Hope, Faith & Football

As part of our church, Elim Kingstanding, we are in the process of setting up a week's coaching school for our local community. What better way to communicate with young people by showing them a better way of life andsharing the Gospel with them by using the most popular sport in the world - Football!!

The aim of the week is to get Christian footballers and coaches to come along and impact the kids not only through their football abilities and coaching methods but also for them to share their testimonies of how they have been touched by God. At the moment we have Darren Moore (Derby County) Mike Tindle (ex Villa) Richard Sneekers (ex WBA) attending the event and we are talking to Fabrice Muamba (Birmingham City). We are also talking to others but as you appreciate they are hard to gethold of!!!

The event is to be held over the week 26th - 30th May at The Pavilion, Moor Lane. We are believing that God will provide funds etc. for the event and we are expecting anything from 2-500 kids for the week. The main reason for this message is to first ask for your prayers and second if there are any qualified coaches available to come and help for part or all of the week then please contact me. As an addition to this on the Friday of the week, Portsmouth's Faith &Football have said they will bring 100 kids down with (hopefully) a couple of players so we can have a mini tournament. Also on the Saturday night we will be holding a presentation evening (venue to be arranged) where we can present the kids with trophies, certificates etc. and also there will be one or two of the coaches/footballers sharingtheir testimony! Also if there is anyone who would like to sponsor the event that would alsobe great! This is hopefully the start of many to come over the years and if you would like to get involved then please email me or call me: studio@eagledesign.net 07956 230763

Many thanks

Chris Morrison
E K Corinthia FC

Saturday Review

My apologies for the delay in getting these reports to you. A busy week-end is to blame.

League Cup Semi Finals

Well what a difference from twelve months ago when we saw both semis settled by a single goal. And one of those was in extra-time! I managed to get to both games and took a few photos which I will publish shortly. This year, we saw a one-sided goal-fest in the St Mary's Selly Oak game and a solid win for Clarendon after soaking up all that Rowley could offer.

Selly Oak Methodist 0 St Mary's 7

It was a bridge to far for Selly Oak as they took a pounding at the hands of a ruthless St Mary's side on a mission. It seemed like every time I looked round St Mary's scored. By the time second half came, the game was over and you could see that both sides had lost their edge. St Mary's Nick Sprason emails: Due to never having played Selly Oak before, we were more than a little worried about how the Semi-Final would turn out. We had everything to lose and little to gain

Selly Oak started the brighter of the two sides playing with a strong wind behind them, but once we adjusted to the conditions it was clear that is was going to be our day. Goals from Blunt (2), Jackaman (pen) and an own goal put us 4-0 to the good after twenty-five minutes. Jackaman added a second after thrity-five minutes and the game was dead and buried at half time.

The second half took a while to get going with both sides a slow to settle. Two further goals followed and both Jack and Josh completed hat-tricks and the game was won. Without wanting to sound ungracious in victory the scoreline didn't flatter St. Mary's. We hit the bar twice and several chances were squandered through poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping.

I am sure that Selly Oak's day will come, they have some talented players but suffer from inexperience. Credit to our squad for performances since the turn of the year. We don't just have eleven good players, we have a great squad and I don't envy Jack's position in selecting the players every week. Clarendon will be big favourites for the final (I disagree, I think it's finely balanced-Ed) and rightly so but that will suit us just fine. We won't be giving up the Cup without a fight.

Special thanks to Rob Hill and Ste Busby for some assistance in the build up.

Rowley College 0 Clarendon 3

Rowley put up an excellent fight against Clarendon but were undone by a stronger team on the day. Clarendon opened up the scoring early on: A corner was send looping over past the back post where Dave Cooper was on hand to head home. A difficult task made to look easy in the blustery conditions. From then on Rowley were defending deeply and when the ball broke to the forwards, they were quickly surrounded by half a dozen Clarendon men with little or no support. Having said that, Clarendon didn't seem to be asserting too much pressure on the Rowley goal either. The match seemed to take on an Italian feel, where defence was the priority, stopping the opponents rather than pounding each others' goals.

The match was decided in late on when Clarendon scored twice to kill the game and claim their first WMCFL Cup Final appearance.

Rowley's Pete Bennett takes up the tale: We lost our first game in the Cup this season at a time where you’re not allowed to lose them and at the same time suffered our first ever defeat at Lion Farm, so I’ve had better days! However, the contrast to last season was considerable, since at least today we put it in and can have no complaints. I’ve really struggled with injuries this last fortnight but we still fielded an eleven comparable with the one that was two minutes from beating Clarendon in the League before Christmas. What we lacked was strength in depth and our gamble of playing Mark Southall with a gradually deteriorating thigh strain didn’t really pay off.

This takes nothing from Clarendon who were significantly the better side today and thoroughly deserved their victory. The fact we created no clear cut chances in the game puts this in perspective. I think the early exchanges were key since they gave Clarendon the initiative. We then conceded a sloppy goal from a corner and it was always going to be an uphill struggle. We were lucky to go in 0-1 at half time and I told them that. We came out second half and had a real go, pushing them back, but even then they were the more dangerous. On seventy-five minutes Clarendon added a second on a breakaway and it was over. The third at the end distorted the score somewhat. Clarendon will certainly take some beating on that big Halesowen pitch and I wish them all the best.

Division One

St Matthew's 1 Dynamo Kingswinford 1

You have to say that it's better to be losing 3-0 and to come back to 3-3 than the other way round. St Matthew's sprinted away at the start of the season and would have been the bookies' favourites to bring home the trophy. I'm sure they will be quite disappointed to have faded but looking back, they have already managed to win more games than they did last year.

St Matt's really could do with a solid victory, so this Saturday they play.......Clarendon.

The point was a valuable one for Dynamo though. They sit at the top of the relegation cluster and have games in hand over all around except Sheldon. The two sides meet each other in ten days, which will be a big six-pointer.

Division Two

St Thomas' Aldridge 3 Bilston Beacons 2

The remaining matches were Division Two. Unlike the real thing where they have one Division One club and three Second tier in the semis, we are slightly more conventional. St Thomas took back over at the top of the Second. The lead is flipping between Halesowen, who have lost one game but have a much better goal difference and St Thomas. The result on paper looked close; this is what Dave Plant from St Thomas' said: St Thomas's got another close hard fought victory today against a stubborn Bilston side. St T's took the lead mid-way through the first half when the evergreen Dan Symmonds embarked on a mazy run to cross to an unmarked Matt Brady to head home. Bilston came back with a quality strike from forty yards which caught our keeper off gaurd!! HT: 1-1.

The second half began slowly but a well worked free kick from Bilston led to a good header to leave St T's 2-1 down! The turning point came when David Plant scored one of the goals of the season when he flicked the ball over an on rushing defender and hit a twenty-five yard volley into the top corner! Well worth the admission fee alone! Then with five minutes remaining an in swinging corner for St T's led to a scramble which Mark Hadden (who up until that point had had a quiet game) smashed the ball home from three yards to make it 3-2. St T's now go into next week's top-of-the-table clash on a high!

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 3 Zion Athletic 1

W&P move into third place grinding out a win at home to Zion Athletic. Wolves have nearly finished their programme with just three matches remaining. But points in the bag are points in the bag. The pressure is on the other three: Selly Oak (faltering), Zion Athletic (improving but lost today) and King's (more matches to play than the others). Tom Baugh reports: Wolves made it three wins on the spin with a hard fought victory over a tough Zion side. We enjoyed the luck at times, most notably the opening goal where the defender managed to cannon the ball off my back (Pennant copied this later, it happened in WMCFL first - Ed) and into the goal when it was easier to clear. It was 2-0 towards the end of the first half when Adam French stumbled his way through and squirmed a shot under the keeper.

The second half was a tough contest and the match could have gone a number of ways, especially when Zion got back into it with a crisp free kick that caught the wind and flew into the back of the net. With the visitors enjoying much of the possession, it was Wolves who nicked the all important goal when a long punt forward eluded the defenders and I was able to get a toe end over the goalie.

A useful win against a good Zion side. You know it's never going to be easy when Jon Allen is involved and he was particularly unlucky to be on the losing side having had a fine game in the midfield. Hopefully we can continue our good form for our remaining three fixtures!

King's AFC 0 Walsall 1

At the League Meeting on Friday night, Rob O'Neill said that he hoped Walsall could do them a favour. After watching them lose 3-1 to Brierley Hill I said they had no chance. Well those plucky Walsall boys proved me wrong, although it sounded like they rode their luck towards the end. Walsall's Mark Webb sent me this: Nathan Brain got the decider in a tense 1-0 for Olympic. End to end yet with few clear chances. Nathan scored a speculative lob to set up a helter-skelter last ten minutes. King's created good chances at the death plus two dangerous corners. Olympic held on. Just.

St Boniface 0 E K Corinthia 2

Another three points for EK who are now unbeaten in three games and seem to be on a bit of a run. EK's Chris Morrison texted: A great game. Not great conditions but the better team won! Great passing goals.

Chris has now got fourteen this season which equals his best back in 2004/5.

League Cup Semi Final Preview

Next Saturday morning the League Cup reaches it's penultimate step prior to the final which has once again been secured at the Grove, the home of Halesowen Town FC on 21 April. Both ties will be played at the Lion Farm Playing Fields simultaneously, with a kick-off at 10.30.

Selly Oak Methodist v St Mary's

In the first tie, Selly Oak Methodist take on Cup holder's St Mary's. It's been a magnificent season for Selly Oak. I refereed them in a pre-season friendly and it was clear that they were going to do much better than their first two seasons when they had been knocking around towards the bottom of Division Two. In their first two years, Selly Oak amassed a total of twenty-seven points. They have exceeded that figure already this year.

Selly Oak thoroughly deserve their place in the semis. They came top of Group A winning four out of five of their matches. They opened up their campaign with a 3-1 win against St Boniface, followed by a 4-1 result against new boys EK. They then suffered a set-back against Solihull as they lost 6-2. The following week the defeat was put to bed as they handed out an 8-1 drubbing of Walsall Olympic. They then had to wait until after Christmas for their deciding match against Wolves and Perton. Effectively it turned out to be a knock-out game. They would have dropped out of the competition should they have lost or drawn the match. But they cruised into the quarter-final with a 3-0 win.

Selly Oak went on to shock Amblecote, dumping them out 3-0 with an incredible performance. Since that time, Selly Oak have managed to avoid winning all three of their following games, easily their worst run of form this season.

St Mary's, the current WMCFL League Cup holders, seem to have taken on the mantle of one of WMCFL's best teams at this point in time. I'm sorry to put the mockers St Mary's but they are clear favourites in this tie. They have the benefit of experience: Their side is significantly older than Selly Oak and they have the benefit of playing and winning last year's Cup. They are also far higher placed and have been playing Division One teams all season.

St Mary's qualification from the Group phase is remarkably similar to Selly Oak's. They were placed in a group of six, won four and lost one. They kicked off against Brierley Hill and turned in a 4-1 win. They followed that up a week later with a 5-1 win against three times Cup winners Dynamo Kingswinford. They then lost their third match, as did Selly Oak, in bizarre fashion as their normally highly competent keeper had a nightmare against Rowley. And, get this: they then won their fourth game 8-1 a week later: spooky. They then sealed their place with a 4-0 win at home against Bilston.

That set them up against old adversaries, St Matthew's in the quarter-finals. Goals from Jackaman and Blunt saw them through 2-1 to set up a mouth-watering tie with the Division Two swash-bucklers. Unlike Selly Oak, St Mary's seem to have been spurred on in the League after their quarter-final victory. they've won all three of their games.

Rowley College v Clarendon

The big question in my mind is can Clarendon do it? They look like they are headed towards their third Division One title but the Cup has just not been their competition. No-one has won the Double for ages. Walsall Olympic were the last club to do it in 1994 and the way that the League is set up at present, with it being a very even standard across at least the top fifteen clubs, it would be a major achievement.

The League Cup is a competition that Rowley have plenty of experience in. They managed to win it in 2001 and lost in the final in 1997, conceding two goals in the dregs of extra time to Aldridge Parish. So that means they have won two previous semis and they lost last year's, so that's at least three they have played in. I'm sure there are more, Pete would clear up that statistic.

Rowley are the only club unbeaten in this year's competition. I can see Richie Webster shaking his head and sighing as he glares at the floor at that fact. Rowley also came through Group B, St Mary's group and managed to beat them. We have seen that irony before. Rowley kicked off against Dynamo back in October and struggled to a 2-2 draw. However, they didn't look back. A Jamie Hunter hat-trick helped secure a 4-1 win at Bilston a week later. In November they saw off St Mary's as previously mentioned and Hunter was on target again as they ground out a 3-0 win away at Brierley Hill. A quarter final berth was all but mathematically assured but they made absolutely sure with a 3-2 win at already eliminated Halesowen Zion.

The quarter final was a tight affair. A single Stewart Harvey goal knocked Sheldon out and put Rowley back in the semis for the second year on the trot.

Clarendon were drawn in the group of death: There's one every year. They progressed as Group C winners but ended on identical figures as Amblecote: Won three, lost won, scored eleven and conceded seven but won the group courtesy of the 4-2 win against the runners up. They opened their campaign with a 3-1 win away against Birmingham rivals King's with whom they've shared the odd player. They then beat Amblecote 4-2; they've had a good year against them, unbeaten in three matches. Then came their only defeat of 2007/8 so far away at Chawn where they were beaten 4-2. They took on City Church, at the time Division One's bottom team and came away with the points with a narrow 2-0 win.

Apart from Selly Oak, the quarter finals were all settled by the odd goal. Everton Morrison has been doing the business in front of goal for Clarendon and it was his two strikes that ensured progression to the last four against Solihull.

I'm sure the games will be a thrilling spectacle, so go along and watch if you can. Directions

As I said, my money's on a St Mary's versus Clarendon final but I've only managed to predict one of the last four finalists in the last two seasons.

Good luck to all four and see you there. Ed

Saturday Review

Division One

Chawn Hill 1 Clarendon 2

We have new leaders. Clarendon overcome a stubborn Chawn Hill team that had beaten them 4-2 in the Cup at the South Road venue. But today Clarendon continue with their march towards their third Division One crown. However, it's not over yet and despite St Matthew's looking weak at this point, they are still level with Clarendon and it's all to play for.

Clarendon remain unbeaten in the League, have scored more goals and have conceded fewer, so the title is now theirs to lose.

St Matthew's 0 Renewal Solihull 1

A below strength Solihull battled away to their second win of the season today with Davoud Takallo netting the sole goal of the game that knocked St Matthew's off the top of the table. Solihull are never, never finished in this League and continue to churn out the results when their backs are against the wall. Unfortunately for them, City also won and by one more than they did. With that result, they drop into bottom spot on goals scored.

Renewal secretary Brian Follows emailed: Heroes all over the pitch for Renewal today. Injured striker Scott Murrell produced an inspired performance in goal and a great strike from Davoud Takallo won a valuable three points for Renewal.

Martin Nicholls adds: After seeing his team take the lead in the latter part of the second half, Brian Follows shouted from the sideline 'That's one shot on target and one goal.' That is a perfect summary of this game. It was in essence a tale of two strikers; one had several chances (me) and didn't convert. (unusual for Mart-Ed). One had an optimistic effort from twenty-five yards drift in to the top corner. A majority of the play, all the chances and no goals.

We are missing several players due to injury and we are missing these players massively. We now have to do what no team has done once on two occasions (beat Clarendon-Ed). But, we need to start scoring. Credit to Solihull who never stopped working.

St Mary's 3 Rowley College 2

St Mary's season continues in a fine vein as they narrowly beat Rowley College. They lie just three points behing the leaders and St Matthew's, although they have played more games. Stranger things have happened.

Phil Kinson from St Mary's says: Nick Sprason produced a moment of sublime skill with a left foot volley from twenty-five yards out for our second goal. That appart, it was a scrappy affair, which we were very happy to sneak over the ninety minutes.

Rowley's Pete Bennett adds: A bit of a photofit report this week since it was my daughter’s birthday so I wasn’t there. I received only ‘goalflashes’ (an experience worse than watching for your team on Teletext since every phonecall to the house between 10.30 and 12.15 caused palpitations) and further news of injury woes. Objectively from a distance I’d have to say: a) that a win each and a draw from three encounters pretty much sums up where Rowley and St Mary’s have been this season and b) Given we’ve had one of those weeks all teams have periodically in amateur football where two or three get called into work and then two or three more are injured I have to feel that giving a good St Mary’s team another nailbiter is pretty good going. However speaking to Mark Southall after the game and barely having enough players standing, he was very disappointed and thought we might have done enough to win. Everyone I spoke to talked of two great goals: one from Alan Micklewright and then an even better volley from their lad!

Steve Hughes sent me this report:

Not a match for a purist. Difficult task given we started with eight fit players. Chris (McIvor) lasted ten minutes, but was hobbling as bad as me (Steve in a man in his fifties!).

Cookey had a pain in his chest and was struggling to breathe when he ran. He lasted nearly an hour but was only playing because he had to. Mark Southall is probably 70% fit and was not able to put himself around in terms of running off the ball. Dan Wheeler eventually found the ground after travelling around the West Midlands and being guided by Mike and his A to Z throughout the first half.

We lacked our composure and could not play the football on the sloping pitch. We scored in the first minute when Olly Staien I gather got the final touch, assisted by Matt Williams. We had a few quick corners where we threatened but failed to put ball in net. They equalised after about fifteen minutes when we gave them space to turn and shoot; it went in off the inside of the post. Alan restored our lead after about twenty-five minutes, when he struck a superb volley from outside the box. They equalised again with a volley from twenty-five, when one of our half clearances fell straight to their player and he hit first time high into the net.

Second half was even overall but they scored when a high ball crossed into our box went flying past Rowey off Matt's head. It was nobody's fault because he just could not get high enough to head it out rather than backwards. Craig worked himself an opening but slid it wrong side of the post before they scored. South hit the bar with a shot from edge of the area which dropped onto the bar and came back into play. Despite our best efforts, we failed to create much really. Too many stray passes on a difficult pitch to judge distance. It reminded me of that semi-final last year when we did not adjust to a slope.

We missed Alun’s (missing goalkeeper Alun Inett) talking at the back I guess but Rowey was not at fault with any goal. We failed to get that sparkle we needed in second half.

Amblecote 0 City Church 2

Some would describe City's first win of the season as a shock result but I feel that it's been coming for a while. City's Martin Ogbourn emailed a report: An excellent, fully deserved result and all-round team performance from City this week. City dominated the first half and we should have taken the lead from one of the numerous chances we created. We defended well as a team again (in the last four games we haven't conceded a goal from open play) and going forward, players made good late runs, but we were not able to convert our chances and make our possession tell. However, at 0-0 at half time we feared that (as has been stated in these pages) we might have another credible performance without a positive result.

The second half was more even as Amblecote came back into the game, but we were able to take the lead through a good looping header from the diminitive full back, Andy Tranter who made the goal from an excellent run. The second goal was less cultured, but fully deserved for Louis Quaintance because of his individual performance throughout the game. We had to re-organise during the half after two injuries, but we held our nerve and maintained our concentration to the final whistle.

The makeshift centre back partnership of Rob Stokes and Joe Meila did a terrific job to enable us to keep our first clean sheet of the season. They were well supported by Stuart Eustace, Martin Belshah and the aforementioned Tranter, while Ross Fittall and Simon Taylor shielded the back four well from midfield. Daniel Atkins, Paul Snelgrove, Louis and Walter Mapako caused problems all afternoon for the Amblecote defenders. Nonetheless, all fourteen players played their part as we had to make a lot of changes due to the injuries.

This is the result we have been looking for, but it will not be any use to us if we don't follow it up again next week. Finally just to mention that it is worth noting the excellent performance of the referee who has been great in both games he has officiated for us this season.

Sheldon 2 Dynamo Kingswinford 2

A point a piece for these clubs doesn't do either any good. Both could have done with a win, especially Sheldon who are just two points off bottom place. Gary Lamsdale says: Plenty of chances for both sides, a fair result. Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher adds: A good first half for us scoring twice, and having the lion's share of the half, we really should have put the game to bed. Dynamo had a better second half, scoring two goals, one a penalty. We hit the woodwork twice, with both keepers making fine saves. Both teams needed the three points today, not a draw.

Division Two

Selly Oak Methodist 1 E K Corinthia 1

Selly Oak appear to be suffering a massive League Cup hangover. Having lost heavily to King's last week, they have now dropped five out of six points since booking their semi-final place. The third place spot looks like turning into a titanic scrap between Selly Oak, Zion Athletic, Wolverhampton and Perton and King's. EK's Chris Morrison on the mark for the thirteenth time this season in the League says: A great game today. EK really took it to Selly Oak.

King's AFC 0 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 3

Wolves really spiced up the battle for third place, overturning the form book with a solid 3-0 win against one of their close rivals in Division Two. Wolves are the whole League's top scorers with sixty-six goals, although I think that Halesowen will overtake them once they have made up their games in hand. And they looked like it today as they brushed aside King's.

Bilston Beacons 2 St Boniface 1

Bilston secure back to back victories for the first time this season with a 2-1 win at home to St Boniface. Andre Johnson scored for the first time for his new club after his move from King's, but it was not enough to stop Bilston collecting three points for the second time in a week.

Bilston's Alfi Westwood provides a report: Not the best game of football Farley Park has seen, but never-the-less a game it was. Both teams started well but it was St Bs who had the upper hand. I knew we were doing better than the last time we played them, as after ten minutes there was no score (they put three past us in ten minutes last time). They had some good chances but failed to finish and it was down to Stu Rogers to get on the end of a Ash Hamer cross for Bilston to take the lead.

We were positive during the break thinking we could get a few early on and finish the game. However we forgot to tell St Bs and they came at us all guns blazing, chance after chance but our defence held. We waited till the last minute for Ash Hamer to slot home from the corner of the eighteen yard box to make it two wins on the bounce. ( I feel a run coming on) Credit to St Boniface they gave us a tough game. Mention to Len the ref, excellent and professional in a physical game, as per usual.

Brierley Hill AOG 2 Sandwell United 4

In the battle of the basement, Sandwell come out on top with a 4-2 win against their closest rivals doing the double over Brierley Hill. Scott Snow, David Mills and a brace from Matt Lawley means that Sandwell double their points tally for the season.

Sandwell's Matt Holt reports: First of all I would like to thank Brierley Hill for all their efforts in creating an enjoyable game. The match started with Sandwell taking the game to their opponents. With the need to keep the ball on the floor, as Brierley seem to have the biggest centre half in the league, Sandwell created a couple of chances and took the lead with a well taken goal by Scott Snow. Five minutes later with some good link up play from the forwards, Matt Lawley added a second about twenty-five minutes in.

Brierley then came into their own. They started to put the pressure on the Sandwell back four and from a well taken free kick they headed themselves their first goal. This gave them the momentum to create chances and with a well worked pass they broke the offside trap and scored their second to make the game 2-2. Sandwell could have taken a 3-2 lead just before half time but the forward put the chance over the bar.

With a deserved break at half time the two teams started to cancel each other out for the next ten minutes until the goal of the game was scored by Matt Lawley. With a pass from midfield, Matt beat the defender with a superb first touch and then struck a powerful shot from twenty-fiveyards. The keeper did his best but the ball was goal-bound all the way. The score was now 3-2. Brierley Hill did create a good chance but the Sandwell keeper pulled off a fantastic save to push the ball over the bar. With about ten minutes left Sandwell were on the break. Lawley to Snow and then to Mills and the game was over at 4-2.

Their was no man of the match today as it was a team effort. We will all admit we haven't played the best football at times this season but that was the best Ihave seen sandwell play for ninety minutes.

Saturday Review

League Cup Quarter Finals

Selly Oak Methodist 3 Amblecote 0

People laugh at me when I say that home advantage is a big factor, even at our level. When Amblecote failed to beat Chawn by more than one goal, they knew that they had earned themselves a quarter final berth, but the away fixture, rather than at home and I thought 'that will give Selly Oak a chance'. When you play at home, people know exactly when to leave the house to arrive on time. There always seem to be stragglers at away games, sending the manager into confusion as to who he has available; mind you I arrived at Lion Farm yesterday to see a frenzied Pete Bennett wearing the turf out, pacing up and down, waiting for a key squad member to arrive.

But take nothing away from Selly Oak; they have assembled a force to be reckoned with and with each passing week, take a step forward in confidence. A quarter final win against Amblecote must surely be their biggest win to date in the season when they came of age. Football, as in many things, confidence is a key factor. Selly Oak now know they can beat anybody in this League, although too much can also be a hinderence.

Selly Oak now meet Cup holder's St Mary's in the semis, which I think will be an even sterner test than yesterday's. Jadon Silva said by text: We lost 3-0 to a very hard-working Selly Oak team. Simon Ashby adds: Gutted again as our cup jinx strikes! Every year seems to be the same: Last year we got beaten 1-0 by Solihull then beat them 6-2 a week later in the league. We are simply pants when it comes to knock out football.

It struck me this week that neither us nor Clarendon, probably two of the stronger teams in recent years have been anywhere near a Cup Final in four maybe five years. Once again yesterday we showed that the top teams just struggle to win these knock out cup matches as opposition want to take the big scalps and play with more passion.

Yesterday, Selly Oak simply wanted the game more than we did. They were up for it, they were at home, and were a good team, and after the first fifteen minutes we struggled. It is difficult to play Second Division teams, as in the league we know who the oppositions best players are nine times out of ten. Yesterday we weren't sure who to mark and their better players simply had too much space. Their first goal was a good move on the break, but the other two were defensive marking errors and avoidable. But Selly Oak were worthy winners.

Good luck to Selly Oak in the Semis, and it will be interesting to see how they cope if they do come up next year. I am hoping that we wont be caught out again.

Rob O'Neill gives his spin: AND THE METHODISTS MARCH ON!!! (Very Weslian-Ed) This is without a doubt the biggest result in the club's three year history. The only Division One opposition we have faced so far this year beat us 6-2 at Raddlebarn, so there was an obvious aura of nerves before the game. I went and had a chat with a few of the Amblecote team before the game and they seem like a good bunch of lads. This is the first time we have ever faced them, although we have played against a few of their number in their Brierley Hill days.

The game started off almost 100% Amblecote as they piled forward searching for an early goal. Despite some solid defending, they eked out quite a few chances but as we know from David versus Goliath and Rahman versus Lenox Lewis, it only takes that one sucker punch moment to win a game. I believe that happened as early as the twenty-fifth minute as we broke on a counter. The ball made its way out to the left hand side to Dean O’Leary who swung a cross into Jamie Williams. He used his pace to find himself enough space to hammer the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0. Amblecote looked visibly stunned, as you would be if you’d seen as much of the ball as they had before this moment. At one-nil the game evened out as we found our confidence and began to match Amblecote all over the pitch. Amblecote have some amazing players such as Jadon, Shawn and their keeper Dean Russell but playing our football and as up for this match as we were we were holding them and towards the end of the first half even started to take the initiative.

We went in at half time in dream land but knew the game could change very easily in the second half. We had to stay focused and iron out the few mistakes we were making. We also knew one goal would not be enough to finish off this team. The second half started in a lively manner, as both teams enjoyed some possession but holding firm at the back Selly Oak seemed to start winning that all important midfield battle and began pushing forward. The second goal came from a set piece: Joel Richards playing a superb ball in from a corner and Daryl Brandy our new signing dispatched a bullet header at the far post to double our advantage. But still calls from around the team were to keep our minds focussed and not to make any mistakes. With at least twenty minutes left, as we’ve seen all to often what can happen with a ten minute lapse in concentration. It was fair to say we were flying at this point and when Amblecote did get the ball they were swiftly surrounded and dispossessed. Once again we broke and that man Jamie Williams in space claimed his second of the game and a Semi Final place was ours. Amblecote did however pelt our goal with chances in the final ten but we held firm to keep not only the victory but a good clean sheet scalp for our keeper Josh Wright.

St Mary's await us in the semis. Another team we have never faced, however Cup and KK Shield holders and fourth in Division One, says all it needs to. We have a huge match on our hands but one that I am sure we will once again look to launch into with the kind of spirit that has got us to the semis in the first place. Also a real chance of Division One football next season. King's away is our next match; a team I felt were very similar to us last time, very quick and a few very good flair players to call on. We drew 2-2 at Raddlebarn after conceding two late goals last time we met, but are all too aware they can take our third spot should they win all their matches in hand. A win here however will consolidate our third place.

Rowley College 1 Sheldon 0

Rowley battle through to the last four with a 1-0 win at home to Sheldon. I did get to the game, but mainly to refresh the team photos which you can see on the respective club pages. Family commitments prevented me from watching the match. If someone from Sheldon could let me know who's who, that would be great. If you would like a full copy, please email a request.

Pete Bennett takes up the story: Another entry today to the 'Funny Old game' argument. This tie was perfectly balanced: we'd both had victories in the league and both lined up as if we knew we could win. Sheldon had the best of the early exchanges, playing powerfully and directly and keeping our defenders very busy. At this point Matt Williams and Rob Hill were keeping us in the game, with Matt's aerial dominance a feature of the whole game. What Sheldon didn't do was create a clear cut chance and as they started to get a little frustrated with this, we had a couple of raids (long throws and corners). As Sheldon weathered the storm and went back into the ascendency, the game's key moment erupted. No Sheldon player was involved or responsible but a fracas between Hunter and our captain Johnny Warr resulted in Hunter raising a fist and getting a red card! John Wright, the referee (who was excellent as ever) had no alternative; I shook my head and Sheldon shook theirs too!

However, as so often, the psychology of ten men proved complicated. Given the importance of the game, the fact they were on top and against ten, Sheldon can be forgiven for thinking that there had been a significant movement of Fate in their direction. In fact the opposite proved the case. We fought hard to half time with Stew Harvey playing up in a 4-4-1 and then had a chance to regroup. Despite losing Johnny Warr to the heavy cold that had troubled him all week (replaced by the excellent Mark Turton), we were boosted by keeper Alun Inett's decision to put off his planned trip to Villa to see out the second half (our reserve keeper is defender Andy Rowe who was nursing a calf strain on the bench).

As it turned out the second half was as well as we've played all season and Sheldon largely had no answer. Not only did we defend resolutely (as we'd planned) but we attacked with an energy that belied our numbers with Olly Staien and Stew Harvey keeping their defenders more than occupied. We had a number of excellent attempts urged on by our on-field leaders Williams and Mark Southall, who once again proved that he is a big game player. The goal when it came was a worthy winner with Staien threading a ball through for Harvey to thump home. From then on it was about seeing the game out which did result in a slight retreat, though Alan Micklewright came on to provide extra running up front. Two unsung heroes of the squad played massive parts today: Chris McIvor and Michael 'Jonah' Jones were both outstanding, as was right Back Matt Cooke. Sheldon showed great spirit and fought on to the end, forcing Alun Inett to make one terrific save. Their manager Lyndon Fisher also showed his quality by graciously conceding that we had been the better team (but only after we went down to ten!)

Ed - Rowley play (in my book) favourites Clarendon in the semis next month, equalling last season's feat where they were knocked out in extra time by the eventual winners St Mary's. Some may put St Mary's as favourites as they are looking stronger these days and they have experience in the bag which can pay dividends at this stage. Some may remember I tipped Chawn and St Matthew's to get through to the 2006 final but neither did as the form book was cast away.

Clarendon 2 Renewal Solihull 1

Two goals from Division One Top Scorer Everton Morrison sees his side progress by the odd goal in three against Renewal. Solihull's form has been lacking in recent weeks but they seem to get their best side out in the Cup and losing by just one goal to Clarendon perhaps proves that point. But today was Clarendon's. They take on Rowley College in what Roger describes as 'not our competition' meaning, they've not had any breaks. Maybe it's their year?

St Matthew's 1 St Mary's 2

St Mary's knock league leaders St Matthew's out of the Cup with a gritty performance in the latest crucial match between these rivals that have seemed to have matched each other throughout their histories. St Mary's Phil Kinson texted: St Matt's edged the first half but St Mary's dominated large parts of the second and deserved the win. St Matthew's Martin Nicholls seems to concur: Injuries, suspensions and missing players are beginning to take a toll on us. We are fielding good teams and playing well for periods of games but can't seem to finish off teams. Today another lead slipped. We went 1-0 up in the first half and played some very good attacking football only to be pinned back by a penalty from St Mary's. We didn't think it was a penalty.

We lost our cool after this and despite having a few chances second half, we were hit by a smart turn and finish with about fifteen minutes to go. St Mary's deserved to edge this encounter although we feel we deserved more from the first half.

Division Two

St Thomas' Aldridge 4 Walsall Olympic 3

St Thomas' take back the lead of Division Two with a slim 4-3 win in this hastily rearranged fixture from last week. Mark Hadden was back to his best, notching a hat-trick. St Thomas' now lead by a point but Halesowen are in very close contention and have a far superior goal difference. The run-in is going to be a close thing. St Thomas' play Halesowen on 15 March, which will be a tasty tie.

Zion Athletic 6 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 4

I must admit, I thought Wolves were going to win this one and I think they have just about blown a top three finish now. Zion's James Hamilton emailed: A great game today, full of goals and commitment. The first half saw us put on our best display of the season, coming in 4-0 up. Credit to Wolves who never gave in and clawed it back to a final scoreline of 6-4. With a few key players back from long term injury now, we feel we can still put in a good challenge in the second half of this season.

Bilston Beacons 2 King's AFC 4

Dan Smith was another hat-trick hero yesterday as he helped King's to a 4-2 win over Bilston. King's can sink themselves into the top three if they go on a winning streak. And the form they have been showing recently, it wouldn't surprise me if they did.

E K Corinthia 2 Sandwell United 0

Another couple of goals to add to Chris Morrison's tally, making it a dozen secures victory for EK. That's four wins out of twelve for the WMCFL new boys.

I received this email from Tim Fellows recently: I'm going to entitle it The One That Got Away.

Just read through the Ed's Eye section on the very excellent site you guys work so tirelessly on...many, many thanks for this.

Just thought I would clarify the stuff regarding the ALL TIME GOAL SCORER section as I wouldn't want people to think that I was that vain to claim the prize for myself !! (No comment from Amblecoters please, especially that young upstart Devonport!!). The debate is a very good one.

Whilst I would agree to some degree that there were some higher score games in the nineties (though I wouldn't count the 36-0 game in my figures Ed as I never kept any and didn't actually play in that one), there were also some mighty clashes and tougher rivalries. It would be great to hear from some of the guys who have played in both, or more era's. Dek Dudfield, our hallowed WMCFL Chairman, has been around as long as me, if not longer as I disappeared for almost a decade playing elsewhere, and then came back part-time, even as a goalie for Alpha.

My old pal,Gary Lamsdale (DK), knows quite a few of the old Walsall Olympic team, and played himself from the early ninties, and I have heard that quite a few older players still check out the web-site from time to time, so maybe post a message on the home page one week to get some of these guys to make comments into the debate AS THEY MAY NOT READ ED'S EYE.

My recollection of the nineties was of 5 or 6 very good teams with some really good quality players, and goal scorers. Ezza (Jon Swain) of Walsall particularly stood out to all who would have played against him as an incredibly good finisher, at least those who saw him go past them!! (he was exceptionally quick!).

Richard Marsh of Aldridge was also a good striker; more of an all-round footballer than Ez probably, with two very good feet, but maybe not as good an instinctive poacher as Ezza. Then, there was Jason from Woodgate who had played with Leicester City so was very well versed in positioning and very confident, and maybe almost as quick as Ezza....his strike partner in the mid-nineties was also a very good player.

You mentioned Neil Hambly too Ed...Neil is one of the most under-rated players I have ever been blessed to have played with. I played with him at Alpha for upwards of 5 seasons and together, we used to bang in over 70 goals each time, many of which were assisted by his speed, agility and hard graft (and he was less selfish than I!!).

Finally, and please forgive me if I miss you out, I remember Chawn Hill's Gonzy...the Italian giant. He was a good old-fashioned centre forward that few enjoyed playing against as he was so strong, and I bet he clocked up loads of goals too over the years. I also ended up playing with Gonzy for three seasons, and found him to be a great bloke...and he was older than me which is always great these days!!

Today, there are some good younger players coming through, and our own Shawn Devonport certainly has all the marks of being a great goal-scorer, and if he stays in this league long enough, he will probably leap ahead of all of us, but there's still some way to go....Ezza and I reckon that you would have to go well over 300 to truly win the prize young whippersnappers!!

Anyway, let the debate roll on.....and I have suggested before, let's go down memory lane again and create our WMCFL all-time dream team.....who would get in if you include the most recent Amblecote and Clarendon players (amongst others!), and the now legendary nineties Walsall Olympic side, Aldridge Parish, Woodgate, Chawn (several good sides), Alpha and whoever else you guys out there may recall. Who was the best goaly you ever saw or played against...the toughest defenders you dreaded facing....the all-round complete midfielders, and the fastest, most deadly strikers.......and who would you vote as your all-time top three players????

Saturday Review

The frost took it's toll once again, knocking out a number of our matches yesterday. There are several advantages to playing on a Saturday afternoon. Getting fewer matches called off because of frost-bound pitches is one of them. Three Division One matches survived, although there were grumbles at the one I was at. The pitch was still a little bit frozen but I would have played it.

Clarendon 8 Renewal Solihull 1

Whilst St Matthew's game was called off, Clarendon took full advantage reeling in one of their three games in hand on the League Leaders. Everton Morrison moves top of the Scorers' charts with his four, but the goal of the match was surely scored by Roger Moore. Clarendon's Ashley Innis described it as 'fantastic'.

Clarendon move within six points of leaders St Matthew's and have two games in hand and have a superior goal-difference, so the race for the Championship moves up another notch. In the meantime, Amblecote were dispatched into third place and look likely to stay there unless the top two trip each other up.

Chawn Hill Church 2 St Mary's 3

St Mary's remain in fourth spot, narrowly defeating Chawn by the odd goal in five. Division One Player of the Year Nick Sprason reports: A good win for us yesterday in the end following last week's cruel defeat against Clarendon. The result was slightly harsh on Chawn especially as the winner was scored with 30 seconds left of injury time. (Phil Kinson described it as a 'shin-roller'). We started brighter and took the lead through a Matt Bignell header, we then proceeded to relax and before we knew it we found ourselves 2-1 down after Hawker had equalised then 'Darlo' notched a Goal of the Season contender.

The second half saw St. Mary's on top but without looking dangerous, whilst Chawn produced the occasional counter attack. The key moment saw the introduction of 'Stag' and 'Edna', (?-Ed) both unfortunate not to start. The substitutions re-focused the team and we started to play with more quality on the ball.

With fifteen to go, veteran striker Jackaman equalised (if he's a veteran, what does that make me? Don't answer that!-Ed) and the additional fitness training that we have started doing seemed worthwhile when I scored in the last few seconds following good work from Leigh Watts.

It was an important win for us and sets us up for the Cup QF next week against St Matt's. St Matt's will be overwhelming favourites to win but it will be an interesting match.

Rowley College 1 City Church 0

A single Mark Southall goal sends City Church to their seventh defeat of the year. Rowley's Pete Bennett takes up the story: City seem doomed to go down (in both senses) by the odd goal as we did. (And King's last year - Ed) The only difference is that they're a good bit better than we were in 2005/2006! Does that mean the League is getting better?

All credit to the referee, George Mills, today. I arrived at Lion farm today to plenty of frost and temperatures barely above freezing, but the ref’s positive attitude, in these all-so-cautious times, got us started and by the second half conditions were ideal. George then ran a good game with authority and common sense before telling me he was 69 years old!

We had Matt Williams back for the first time since the season’s opener (again against City) and with him came our first clean sheet in the league, though he was outshone today by his central defensive partner Rob ‘second fiddle’ Hill, our man-of-the-match. As so many have commented in the last few weeks City look nothing like a bottom of the league team and were unlucky again today to come away with nothing in a very even game. We pressed early and then they had a period of dominance and so the game continued. For all of the attacking intent of both sides this was a game of few chances. Our threat came mainly from Jamie Hunter’s long throws and it was from one of these that we scored the only goal when Mark Southall merely rose and flicked it on and in.

The goal was scored first half and from then on it was a matter of us getting a second or City getting at least one. In fact neither happened and we were left to hang on for the points thanks to a spirited rearguard action epitomised by captain Johnny Warr.

Martin Ogbourn texted: It was a competitive game, but not one for the purist and we deserved something from it. It was decided by a goal from a long throw in during the first half. This was disappointing because we again defended well as a team. It is now four games since we conceded a goal from open play, however the long throws were difficult to repel.

In the second half, City created some clear chances but couldn't find the net. Rowley defended well but we merited at least a draw. Once again the result doesn't help our situation, even though the performance reflected well on the team.

Division Two

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 2 Selly Oak Methodist 4

Selly Oak took another step towards Division One football yesterday as they defeated fourth-placed Wolves and Perton in the only Division Two match that survived Friday night's icy blast. Selly Oak are smack in the middle of a crucial phase of the season as they were beaten by St Thomas' last week, face Amblecote on Saturday and then take on King's who can also rob them of third place.

Wolves' Tom Baugh emailed: How disappointing to lose such an important game at such a vital stage of the season. Truth be told, Selly Oak were convincing winners and could have won by a far more comfortable margin given the amount of possession they had. Credit to them, they're an energetic, young team who are incredibly difficult to play against and I'm certainly glad to have seen the back of them this season.

Despite being wasteful, Selly Oak's timing was perfect when they did hit the net. An early opener gave them something to defend, a third goal just before half time to make it 3-1 when we were just starting to get back in and a hammer blow of a fourth just after the restart.

We'll keep plugging away and hope that results turn in our favour. We so far haven't got the results against the teams around us to get anywhere near the top three. We now have to beat them all to have any chance.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill emailed: (added 4 Feb) With a fifty minute trip to Wolverhampton ahead it was a bit disconcerting to get a call saying the pitch may not be playable but we set off in the hope we’d get the match on. Fair play to the ref, as despite a bit of top snow the ground was soft at W&P’s facility, second only to EK’s. W&P started the game with ten men due to a late arrival. We used this to stamp our authority on the game with some great passing and movement across the midfield. We managed to utilise our pace and the space created by the extra man. The two usual suspects Michael Knowles and Jamie Williams were both on top form and both helped to give us a comfortable lead of 3-1. Despite bringing the game back to eleven against eleven, Wolves seemed to have little answer at the back for the sheer pace of our midfield.

Wolves, as I mentioned did score, however as a lofted punt forward bounced over our keeper he did enough to get it onto the cross bar. It then proceeded to bounce back down onto his head and into the net almost bettering my superman punch (the ball was going wide) when I was in net earlier in the season. We went in at half time looking solid, knowing what an important three points this was as a loss would leave us little chance of catching the top two.

We started the second half in much the same fashion and continuing to press forward. It wasn’t long before we’d added to our lead and at 4-1 we thought we’d put the game to bed. We’ve got quite a big squad here at Selly Oak and with half a mind on Amblecote next week and with a good opportunity to give a run out to a few players, our coach Jason made a few changes. Despite conceding a goal to bring the scores to 4-2 the changes made proved to pay off: We had three fresh men on the pitch and plenty of energy left in the team and Wolves' bare eleven struggled in the final ten to contain us. A few near misses and one superb save from their keeper stopped the score line being added to.

I feel we were definitely worth the three points today with the first half performance alone and although Kings (if they win all matches in hand) can catch us, we currently have breathing space ahead of fourth place going into our Quarter Final. A huge test awaits us next with a home tie against Amblecote. We know they are a very strong side and if we show them too much respect they may punish us but make no mistake we are going into the match to win. What a season we are having so far and the average age of this team is still roughly twenty-one. I myself am the second eldest at twenty-three, we also had an excellent debut from a new signing today and if we keep this squad together who knows what may happen….. but lets not get carried away, we are yet to face Halesowen Zion and our first league match after the qf’s away at Kings will be a huge test and one I am looking forward to.

National Christian Cup

Molesey Community Church 2 King's AFC 3

Congratulations to King's, 3-2 winners in the National Christian Cup; the sole representatives in the competition from WMCFL. King's now travel to Liverpool in the quarter final. Good luck from all at WMCFL.

Friendlies

Champions Church were in action again yesterday afternoon, but not against a recognised team.

E K Corinthia 4 Elim Athletic 2

Elim's Tracey Earp reports: It was a hard game. We played well in the first half going in just one goal down. We then lost our keeper five minutes into the second half. He was taken by ambulance with a suspected fractured arm. (Thankfully everything was OK). We probably should have gone in at half time 5-0 up but unfortunately the strikers were not on form today. Two of the goals we conceded today were very unfortunate as they were cross-come-shots that caught the wind and flew in the top of the goal (twice). Like last week's friendly, we managed to score two own goals, so things really aren’t going our way.

Hopefully in the next few months, we can get ourselves together and have a change of luck, we should do fine. We went into the second half 1-0 down, but kept battling. We only hit the target twice and scored twice, so I think we’re learning a quick lesson. The game ended 4-2 to E K Corinthia who played well themselves. Overall the game was played in pretty good spirit and hopefully we can have a few more friendlies like this one, only with a better score line.

Next week, we have the League Cup Quarter Finals, along with a handful of Second Division ties. Fingers crossed for the weather.

Saturday Preview

Some cracking matches to look forward to this week-end, weather permitting. It would be just my luck to write a long article about this Saturday's games and then for the lot to be lost to the elements. I'm supposed to be working in Shrewsbury tomorrow (Friday) and I've already seen that the schools are sending the saucepan lids home at 1pm. It's not looking so bad this side of the Wrekin, so fingers crossed. We could do without another day wiped out.

Good luck to King's in the National Cup against Molesey Community Church. I'm not sure what stage of the competition King's are at. If someone could update me, I'll pass on the information. But best of luck to WIllis and his team.

Back in Division One, St. Matthew's will be keen to get back to winning ways after dropped points last Saturday. They face an awkward tie against a Sheldon side that are without a win in the League since 24 November and have slipped into the bottom three. Both sides will be very keen to take all three points. Second placed Amblecote are visited by their old bogey team, Dynamo Kingswinford. Dynamo are one of those teams that Amblecote have just struggled to get a result against over the years. A win for DK would put them on fifteen points, just two behind Amblecote. Perhaps a couple more wins would be enough to avoid the bottom three. A win for Amblecote in combination with a St. Matt's defeat would reignite the Amblecote title challenge.

In third are Clarendon who are visited by Solihull. Another side that are looking down the barrel of relegation. A win is a must for Renewal and likewise for Clarendon if they are to catch St Matthew's, so all to play for.

In fourth place, St Mary's face a trip to Chawn, which is never an easy game. St Mary's will want to stay ahead of the mid-table pack but are only a point ahead of the three teams below them, including Chawn. Chawn will be looking to build on last week's 1-0 win. Lastly, Rowley meet City who are in a defiant mood, determined to stave off relegation and are still looking for their first League win entering February.

In Division Two, top side Halesowen take on Bilston at home. Halesowen seem to have returned to form but nevertheless cannot afford a slip up with St Thomas' breathing down their necks. St Thomas' themselves meet Walsall, who are a decent side on their day.

The game of the day must surely be Wolves vs Selly Oak. Selly Oak were upset last week by St Thomas' and cannot afford to lose again. They will cede third place to W&P if they are defeated. Wolves seem a little more proficient in front of goal having scored 56 as opposed to Oak's 37. Both teams have conceded 20.

In the last match, Zion Athletic are visited by Sandwell. When these clubs last met Sandwell pushed Zion to the limit and nearly took something from the game losing 4-3.

Saturday Review

Back to normality this week-end with almost a full programme. The rain has subsided and in most cases left nice soft pitches with plenty of grass.

Division One

City Church 2 v St. Matthew's 2

Probably the only shock result yesterday as most other games pretty much went to form. City's Martin Obbourn emailed: The game today was a good, hard-fought contest. Even though the result doesn't really help either side, it was an excellent all-round team performance from City. We demonstrated great character to come back from two goals down against the League leaders. Both St Matthew's goals were scored from set-plays towards the end of the first half. It was disappointing to concede from set-plays because we had defended very well all over the pitch and had started at a high tempo. This had prevented St Matt's from settling into their rhythm early.

In the second half we rallied, fought back well and had lots of possession which led to good chances in which we scored two goals. We fully deserved the draw and towards the end we could even have snatched the much needed three points. We even went down to ten men for several minutes after an injury (which resulted in a fractured fibula) because we had used all three subs. However the game ended 10 v 10 after a St Matt's player was sent off for two yellow cards just before the final whistle.

From City's viewpoint we have now drawn three out of four games since the New Year (six out of twelve overall - Ed) and although we need to start winning it was an encouraging performance and gives us something to build on.

Martin Nicholls adds: On paper we were probably (definately - Ed) favourites. We were able to field a strong team but having to play captain Pete Davies in goal is hardly ideal. The first fifteen minutes or so were tightly contested and played at a high tempo. St Matt's asserted themselves in the later stages of the first half and went one up when a tremendously flighted Anthony Smith free kick was headed goalwards by Nicholls. The keeper got a hand it it and despite me thinking I had the goal, Paul Beagen made sure and poked the ball in from very close range. We went two up when Nicholls scored directly from a free kick. Paul Beagen also thought he'd scored directly from a corner. In fact most of the St. Matthew's team thought the ball crossed the line but the referee said it didn't and it's his decision that counts.

The second half was a differently story. City caught us napping and got a goal back just after the half. We lost Dave Broome after he picked up a knock in a rough challenge shortly after half time and we missed him. Nathan Upton also had to be subbed, again after a robust tackle and we conceded an equaliser and were perhaps fortunate in the end to hold on for a draw. This report may not do City justice, they played very well in the second half. The early goal spurred them on and they got a deserved point.

I would like to apologise on behalf on St Matthew's FC to City for the behaviour of our sent off player. His actions and language are not supported by us and I would like to wish Martin Ogbourn a speedy recovery from his injury.

City's Torq Smith emailed: City Church would like to wish Oggers a speedy recovery. (I'll add my name to that sentiment. He's a good 'un. - Ed)

Amblecote 4 Renewal Solihull 0

Amblecote keep their faint hopes of retaining the Championship alive with a sound 4-0 win that deepens the Followers plight at the bottom of the table. If Amblecote win their game in hand, they will be just five points adrift of leaders St. Matthew's. And with St Matt's having to face Clarendon twice, we're all looking forward to a tasty run-in. Renewal's troubles deepened another degree as City caught up on points and Chawn moved out of the bottom three. Renewal and City have just one win between them and have goal-differences that are starkly worse than the rest of the division.

Amblecote's Shawn Devonport emailed: We started the game with five corners inside the first few minutes but failed to capitilise. Both teams had a few half chances but neither side could open the scoring.

Then came the opener: I had a shot blocked by a defender's hand with the keeper beaten and a penalty given although strangely the player didn't even get booked but at least it was still 11 vs 11 and it didnt spoil the game. The penalty was converted by yours truly to make it 1-0. We then wasted a few half chances but our keeper was forced into a fantastic save from a header off a corner. Just as it seemed as if it would be 1-0 at half time we sneaked another just before the break with Tim Fellows beating two men with his electric pace and scoring a fantasic finish past the Renewal keeper.

After the break, that late first half goal seemed to have killed them off. We created many good chances but failed to get another until Jadon Silva kept up his good scoring run with a good finish after I actually passed! Lee Ralph then hit the crossbar and I missed some absolute sitters before we made a few substitutions. The game became very end to end and Renewal came back into the game and created some decent chances but the Amblecote rearguard stood firm. Just before the end a fantastic finish from a very tight angle from Si Ashby rounded off another very impressive result.

We are still yet to concede a goal at home in the League going into February and with St Matt's dropping another couple of points we closed the gap to eight points with a game in hand. With St Matt's coming to the Dell in three weeks, which will no doubt will be a fantastic match! I'm sure Renewal will be fine all though they must start winning soon!

Jadon Silva adds his thoughts from the game yesterday: Renewal have always given us a good game. They knocked us out of the Cup at the semi-final stage last season and of course beat us earlier on this season. Getting the lads up for this game wasn't difficult.

Despite a good start, there was a decisive turning point to the game. The Solihull club linesman gave us a penalty. In fairness, he called the right decision, but it was so pleasing to see someone behaving so honestly. All credit to him, a true asset to the game, although I don't think Brian was too happy with his player. Solihull heads didn't go down. They attacked well and only a tremendous save from Deano, our on form keeper, kept out a smart effort from a set piece.

Tim Fellows effectively killed off the game with a strike just before the half. It was a moment of absolute class, where he jinked past two or three defenders before firing home a powerful and accurate drive which left the keeper stranded. He looked up like it was nothing, but it was great play.

After the break, I nipped home a tap in after a great pass from Shawn [yes he passed]. At 3-0 Solihull made some attacking changes and nearly registered a goal or two. In the last few minutes of the game, our left back, Monkey, scored a fine goal. With the Solihull keeper having pulled off a save he was off his line. Monk was a yard from the goal line and ten yards out, the cross looked a likely. Instead, he fired on the outside of his left peg a rocket that swerved into the back of the net. He doesn't score many, but when he does, they're usually scorchers.

Solid defending from our lads, a great team effort and another clean sheet.

St. Mary's 1 Clarendon 2

My tip for the title last August was Clarendon and whilst St Matthew's have built up what would seem to be an unassailable lead a month back, Roger's boys are coming up on the rails. Clarendon's trusty striking duo of Everton Morrison and Junior Thompson were on target again, bagging all three points to sent St Mary's spinning into the 'also-ran' pack of Division One.

Like Amblecote, Clarendon have won half their League games this season, but unlike the second-placed team, they have drawn the other half and indeed remain unbeaten in the League*. To add to that, they have conceded a miserly eight goals all season, whilst scoring three times that figure.

Just take a brief look at the tables. It's interesting to cast your eye on the goal difference in the top division. The top three clubs are way ahead, with a central pack and a bottom two.

*I did in an earlier version state that Clarendon were also unbeaten in the Cup. Neil Kovacs kindly pointed out my oversight in that Chawn beat them 4-2; a game I attended the first ten minutes of. My apologies to Chawn.

Clarendon's Louis Williams texted: We left it until the last two minutes to score the winner. It could have gone either way but I think we deserved it with the chances missed. The St Mary's keeper had a great game.

Chawn Hill Church 1 Sheldon 0

A solitary goal seperated the clubs yesterday in a key match towards the bottom of the table. Sheldon's supremo Lyndon Fisher emails, yes emails!!!: Although Chawn Hill's defence played well, it was a very frustrating game for us. We had the majority of the chances but fluffed them all and Chawn Hill took their's. As we pushed forward for the equaliser, they were dangerous on the counter attack, but that's football.

Chawn's Neil Kovacs adds: I know St Matt's have points in the bag but I still think it's going to be closer than a lot of people think. Amblecote and Clarendon look ready to pounce with Clarendon being my favourites. Funny but we have got to play both of them twice, nice easy end of season for us then...

Ed says - I'm sure Chawn will take some points from those games.

Division Two

Halesowen Zion 6 E K Corinthia 0

Halesowen looked like they were wobbling a bit around Christmas but they seem to have steadied the ship. Grant Doran emailed: A good result again this week with a 6-0 win over EK.

The game started very slowly with both teams struggling to adjust to the wind. Roughly twenty minutes in, Jon Lea scored a sublime free kick from 25 yards out giving the keeper no chance! Then Halesowen settled and started to play the free flowing football that we have come accustomed to this season. Tom Doran (again) was the next peron to score with a low left footed drive across the keeper in to the opposite corner. He then added to his impressive tally with a neat finish following some good work from his brother Ben. Skellern scored a header at the back post following a long looping ball from Chris Bennett. Skell then rose like a salmon to head home the fourth!

The second half was more of a battle as Halesowen were playing against the wind. Ben Doran then added a further two to take his tally for the season to nine, something which he fully deserved. Onwards an upwards for Halesowen!

Selly Oak Methodist 1 St Thomas' Aldridge 2

A big result for St Thomas' this week-end which puts clear air between the top two and those chasing third place. I had a frustrated text reporting the result from Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill, which illustrates how far his club have come in twelve months.

A report sent in says: It was always going to be a tough game and it got tougher for Selly Oak after they had a man sent off very early on. But fair play to Selly Oak they never looked like they had ten men for the rest of the game. An own goal from a corner sent it in at 1-0 to St Thomas' at half time.

A hopeful thirty yarder caught the wind and sailed in to make it 1-1. Then in the 77th minute Steve Busby rode a challenge, the ref playing the advantage sent his own hopeful punt goalwards from 30 yards, again catching the wind, before promptly dropping to the ground and requiring treatment.

Selly Oak really did themselves proud and I thought that they were going to hold onto a draw.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 8 St Boniface 0

Wolves handed St Boniface a battering as the race for third place hots up. St Boniface's Simon Adams texted in typical Adams' style: Bad day at the office. Fourteen players playing badly. Collective responsibility.

Tom Baugh adds: A comprehensive victory over St. Boniface is particularly satisfying as they've been a consistent thorn in our side this year. We came away from the reverse fixture in the league thinking we should have easily won, having lost 3-2. We were also in a commanding position in our cup fixture at 4-1 up and very nearly managed to lose after a spirited comeback. The difference yesterday came down to one thing: Cutting edge.

Most of the chances we created seemed to end up in the back of the net, meaning that the game was effectively over at half time. Both myself and Olly Jones helped ourselves to a brace after an unfortunate own goal had opened the scoring. Just before the break I somehow contrived to handle the ball in our area when it was easier to use my foot resulting in the most obvious penalty of the season. It seemed fate was on our side though, as the resulting spot kick was floated over to keep our clean sheet intact.

The returning Steve McGarry got his name on the scoresheet just after the restart with a smart finish. Nathan Lodge also got in on the action with a fierce close range drive before Olly completed his hat-trick with only a few minutes left on the clock.

I'm often accused by members of my own team for being overly biased towards the opposition so I'll tread carefully this week. In truth, it was probably our most complete performance of the season. St. Boniface have the players to turn any team over if they don't perform so it was pleasing to put them to the sword with relative ease. Next week is a real six pointer at home to Selly Oak. We've played at their ground twice this season with both teams enjoying a win, but I think playing at Aldersley will provide a totally different type of match. I'm really looking forward to it!

Bilston Beacons 0 Zion Athletic 1

A single James Toomey goal sealed the points for Zion Athletic as they remain in contact with the top teams. Zion have one game in hand but seem to have conceded more and scored less than most of the teams around them. Whilst the results have lacked conviction, Zion remain in the top echelons of this Division and a winning streak could suprise a few.

King's AFC 3 Brierley Hill AOG 0

King's also remain in touch and a force to be reckoned with. If they win their games in hand, they would go third and just a point behing St Thomas'. Willis texted me: Scoreline doesn't justify King's dominance. A good game on a heavy pitch.

Walsall Olympic 7 Sandwell United 0

Another team that have made big progress is Walsall Olympic. They sit squat top of the bottom half of the table, effectively our third division. Having said that, I would say that if our matches were over an hour instead of the customary hour and a half, Sandwell would be sitting in a similar spot. Walsall's Mark Webb says: Just one-nil after fifty minutes, until the game got stretched.

Friendly match

Champions Church 5 Elim Athletic 2

A couple of teams that will be applying to join WMCFL season are up for friendlies if you are interested. They clashed on Saturday afternoon. Shawn Devonport sent in a report:

Four of the Amblecote lads who had played Solihull this morning joined Champions Church against Elim Athletic in the afternoon. We soon realised what amateur football is all about: With already having two key players missing, our keeper rang to say he couldn't make it. But we started very well with Rion Mills hitting the cross bar and going 1-0 after ten minutes after a cross was diverted in to Elim's own goal by their own defender although the defender didn't have much choice but to make the header. We were soon 2-0 up after Dave Oakley thumped in a header at the back post which we fully expected him to miss after some of his misses this season but he made no mistake giving the keeper no chance. It was soon 3-0 after another own goal, this one being a little more silly after a corner was sliced into the Elim net from six yards out by their right back. It was soon 4-0 just ajust before the break when Lee Ralph bent in a free kick from twenty yards out. Elim did come very close with Simon Bench making the keeper make a very good save just before half time. At the break we were looking very comfortable.

Things changed after the break though and Elim put us under alot more pressure all though it was soon 5-0 with Rion Mills scoring a fantastic goal from twenty-five yards out with a great right foot curling finish. We then let our foot slip off the pedal and Elim soon scored after some good pressure with Sean McKenna scoring with a lovely chip over the keeper. Both teams then came very close with both sides looking like scoring but it was Elim who got another with ten minutes to go scoring from a corner after I lost my man! That's why strikers should never defend!

Overall we were very pleased with the performance especially first half with three key players missing and two of our lads who played for Amblecote on the morning having to go off with cramp. We're looking forward to next year after wins against Sheldon and now Elim scoring thirteen goals!

I'm sure Elim will do well next year. Alot of there lads have played in the League before and a couple of wins and I'm sure confidence will be flowing. A lovely bunch of players and the management team were great too!

Saturday Review

Not much to report from yesterday. The texts started coming through from Thursday that the games were getting called off. It's frustrating as a player or anyone else for that matter but on refledtion I think it's for the best. With the ground so soft, the grass soon disappears and then it rains more and the pitch turns into a bog. Then when it gets warmer and drier all that's left is a dust bowl.

Division One

Chawn Hill Church 1 City Church 1

Not a result that will leave either club pleased coming away from the fixture. City are still without a win and Chawn seem to have used up their games in hand but are still in the bottom three. The team above Chawn, Sheldon have two games in hand and are a point to the good, so the South Road based team have some work to do. Here's what they said about the game:

Chawn's Neil Kovacs: Despite the blanket cancellation of the programme, the South Road pitches were excellent, the best in the League.

City's Martin Ogbourn: It was certainly a game of two halves, as the cliche goes. In the first period we had enough of the play and created enough chances to have sown up the game by the time the ref blew for half time. In the second half, Chawn played better and scored from a long throw. Both sides could have won it late on and we had a shot cleared off the line.

Another drawn game for us that we could have won. We are not turning draws into wins. Overall the result was disappointing from our viewpoint because that was our fifth draw in the League. We have lead in every game but unfortunately we have been unable to hold on to wins. This has been the story of our season.

Further comment:

One wag did text: Pools panel result: St. Boniface 0 Brierley Hill 3 (Ian Baker 3) - I did text him back to ask when was the last goal that he really scored. I've not had a response as yet.

We have rearranged some games for later in the season and we are rapidly running out of free Saturdays. We already have two games scheduled for mid-week kick-offs, so please do what you can to get your games on. We may have to go into May but there's always problems with getting pitches that time of year. You can never get definative answers from the Councils as to when they are taking the goal posts down. We have chalked off Easter Saturday, but if all are in agreement you can get your games on that day. We had a couple that did so last year.

On a brighter subject, I have had enquiries from another couple of clubs wanting to join us next year. That brings the total to six teams making enquiries. Whilst this is great news for the League, I'm sure David Davies is scratching his head, wondering how he is going to cover all our games with referees. If you are interested in becoming a ref, now's the time to act. I just took the course and it's not that difficult.

With it tipping it down with rain outside as I type and lots more rain forecast, next week's programme is already in doubt. Fingers crossed that things will improve.

A couple of debates that are bubbling along under the surface that I thought I'd share with you: They are all light-hearted and it's great to chat about our football. The web-site has provided so much material to talk about and I wouldn't want it to go to waste.

Firstly, and they are kind of connected, about the All Time Top Scorers from Jonathan Swain: Great to see the updated Goals chart. Here is an interesting fact for you. Richard Marsh of Aldridge Parish (who has since gone on to captain Walsall Rugby Club) once scored 69 goals in a season - I know I got 59 that year and was really disappointed not to be top scorer! I am sure that must be the record and would be a great challenge to put out to Tom Doran and others.

Olympic started that season well and we beat Aldridge in our fourth game. I had started the season scoring three, four, three and four so was on fourteen after four and feeling good. It was the fifth game for Aldridge that year and I was somewhat shocked after the game to hear that Richard was already on twenty-four goals for the season! I think it shows that the Leagues is more competitive now than in those days!

Tim Fellows adds (and he is joking, I talked to him about it last Saturday) I can't believe that Ez didn't mention his REAL opposition to the League's Top Goal Scorer in his e-mail to you Ed......Richard only played a few seasons in comparison to us two Ez!

I have just been clearing out an old box and found the 1996 Cup Final program which was done by Kev Kovacs I think.....will try to scan it to you Ed when at work......it gives a brief resume of each player....and for "Fellows The Un-mentioned" (by Swain), it reads;

"Player/Manager. Tim is arguably the League's outstanding goal scorer with over 150 goals in the last four seasons. Despite playing in midfield, he has scored in excess of 40 this season so far".

Ed - Well there you go and I'm sure that there are plenty of others out there shouting at their computer screens as they read this. I will go on to add that personally I think it is far harder to score well into double figures these days. We had a couple of teams scoring ten and eleven last Saturday but thankfully this is a rarity rather than the weekly occurance that it perhaps was back fifteen years ago. In fact, before last Saturday there was only one other match this year where a club had more than nine put past them. Neil Hambly from Chawn told me about a match that he was involved in when Alpha took on a seriously depleted Summerfield team and managed to find the net thrity-six times. Unfortunately, the match was chalked off because Summerfield soon pulled out of the League and all results were 'expunged', to use the correct term. You weren't counting them were you Tim?

This brings me onto my next subject: The Ed's Eye predictions. I've had a bit of feedback from a couple of folk, telling me what they think of my Mystic Meg attempt. What I would say in my defence is that I probably found it more difficult to give my opinion on the final placings because of the very even standard across most clubs, especially in Division One. And hence the fact that you only need to have scored six to get on the charts on the front page in Division One. I think this is a very healthy state of affairs for the League. I don't like seeing teams getting tonked every week and if we're honest, it's not really that much fun to do the tonking.

Rowley's Pete Bennett emailed me: and I hope he doesn't mind me publishing...As ever your half season review/predictions are an excellent source of debate. It's great that you are prepared to stick your head above the parapet and take part in some idle speculation since this is the lifeblood of the game, particularly for those of us who can no longer cross the white line. Last season I plotted our way back to Division One in a school exercise book with an increasingly complex set of projections.

When I persuaded Johnny Warr to come out of retirement the summer before last it was with the incentive that we'd get back up and have a crack at the League again in two seasons. It was a lot harder than it looked (by the end) and has continued to be so, though great fun. This is a cracking league and it has taken us half a season to find our feet. Aside from a forgettable day against Amblecote we have played eight games all of which might have been W, D or L so 3-3-3 is perhaps a fair reflection and as you suggest mid table (I hope we can do a little better than 7th). At the same time my own aim was the classic 36 points; 9 home wins + 9 away draws and at half way we are three points down (due to home draws): this would deliver 3rd/4th.

I think we have as good a squad as we have ever had but have struggled a little with injuries/availability (as everybody does at this level). Matt has been a hard act to follow but for much of the first half this has been made worse by the unavailability of our other centre back Rob Hill. Rob is now fully fit and I've acquired a new lad, Mark Turton, who looks top quality, and Russell Burdon so I hope we'll ship fewer goals. Add to this the fact that Matt Williams is coming down tomorrow with a view to a comeback in the St Matts game and I think things are coming together.

Whatever the outcomes at least we are back playing decent football, which is good to watch and that means a lot. Hunter in particular deserves a mention. He has played this season with a smile on his face and it's a joy to see the change in him. Your website adds such a lot to the experience:long may it continue (I think we'll finish 4th).

St. Mary's Ross Capp adds: I am St Mary’s stalwart left back (I had to check on the meaning of ‘stalwart’ in the dictionary and it turns out it means ‘sturdy’ so I’m not sure what you’re getting at). (I thought stalwart meant he turns up every week, plays a blinder and has done for years. It was a good photo though - Ed). Anyway, I am running the London Marathon this year for VICTA (Visually Impaired Children Taking Action), a charity that improve the lives of blind and partially sighted children and their families. Please click on the link to make a donation. The site can be found at www.bmycharity.com/v2/rosscapp.

On another subject, further to your comment on Ed’s Eye a while back, I have indeed witnessed a game being called off on the top pitch at South Road. It was vs Brierley Hill in about January 2002. A sudden deluge just before the game created a lake where the pitch used to be. Ian Baker and Co tried gamely to clear the water using a broom and a waste paper basket, but it was clear to everyone that they were fighting a losing battle.

Also, I would like to mention that the mighty St Mary’s only lost to three teams during the whole of 2007 and it’s now over twelve months since we failed to score in a game. This:- “they seem highly placed in the Division but on analysis the results are nothing to write home about.” Seems a bit incongruous. Don’t worry, I know it’s all a bit of fun – as is complaining about our coverage on Ed’s Eye.

Ed - So please sponsor Ross. He's a great chap and if I was running the London Marathon, I'd want as many folks sponsoring me as possible. A trip around the paper shop is all I'm up to at present but I doubt if anyone would sponsor me for that.

Saturday Review

Firstly, an apology to Martin Nicholls. Mart sent me a report on their friendly last week with Elim Athletic. I just ran out of time, I got the job though. The weather put paid to over half of our matches, so I'm grateful to be able to include the report this week-end. Martin writes: In a bid to shake off the mince pies and sausage rolls we all enjoyed over the festive season, St Matts took on Elim Athletic. Elim are looking to enter our league next season and are much an unknown quantity. Although, any team boasting the two McKenna's you know is going to test you.

The first 20 to 25 minutes were pretty even, with Elim attacking well, stretching the St Matts defence and created a few chances that they were unable to take. However, St Matts managed to capitalise on theirs and went into half time 3-0 up with goals from Ricky Roberts, Martin Nicholls and a cool Carlos Ivans strike.

The second half went to St Matts. We ended the game the victors by a scoreline of 6-0. Second half goals from the flying swede Mattias Wihlborg, Nathan Upton and a second from Ricky Roberts saw us to victory. This was only Elim's third or fourth game I believe and I think time will see them gel in to a useful outfit. Look out for them next season.

League Cup Group C

Chawn Hill Church 2 Amblecote 3

The trusty South Road pitches were pushed to the limit this week-end as heavy rain followed by frost threatened to cancel the entire programme. The goal mouths were still a little icy at 10.30 but the referee in both games delayed kick-off for a quarter of an hour, as is permitted. The combination of sunshine and the trampling of boots thawed the offending playing surface to an acceptable mire.

Chawn versus Amblecote is always a tasty fixture but today's match had the added spice of effectively being a knock-out, despite its Cup group phase status. Having watched the vast majority of procedings, I did feel that Chawn were unlucky to take the points having had more than their fair share of the chances. Profligacy in front of goal cost them dear.

It was Amblecote who took the lead through a Lee Ralph flicked header. Chawn had conceded a free-kick in their left-back position, which former Chawn player Tim Fellows floated over for Lenny to finish. Chawn's Lee Darlington equalised, thumping home a close range effort at the South Road end.

Chawn had a couple of chances in the early stages of the second half but were insufficiently clinical and paid for it. A goal for Chawn at this stage may have rocked Amblecote's bare eleven but bouyed by the miss, they went up the end and scored. A short range effort from Fellows put his side ahead. Chawn are not a side to self-destruct and showed their resilience and fighting spirit equalising once again through Lee Darlington. At 2-2 Amblecote were going through, although Chawn looked likely to score at any moment and with fifteen or so left on the clock, there was plenty of time to do so. But it was Amblecote that found the net. The ball broke for youngster Rion Mills, whose four uncles had all played for Amblecote. He hit the bar from outside the box and it was Shawn Devonport who reacted the quickest to nod home from point blank range.

The result means that Amblecote's record is identical to Clarendon's. Teams qualify firstly points scored, second goal difference if points are level, thirdly goals scored and lastly matches between the two sides. If Amblecote had drawn with Clarendon in the group, we'd be arranging a play-off. As Clarendon beat Amblecote 4-2 in the group, they took top spot and now face Solihull at home in the quarters. Amblecote travel to Selly Oak and play on Raddlebarn, which will suit the Second Division team.

Division One

Clarendon 10 City Church 2

Clarendon open up their New Year programme with a bang. They dispatch City by a score of 10-2 with Everton Morrison scoring five. It's rare to see wins by such margins in WMCFL these days, especially Division One where the teams are by and large fairly evenly matched. City's Martin Ogbourn texted: The score says it all. Clarendon played well and we had a shocker.

Clarendon's Louis Williams adds: An excellent display from Clarendon, we even managed to miss a penalty!

Incidentally, I think I recognise a name from the scorers: Dave Cooper. If it's the same chap, which I'm pretty sure it is, Dave was an integral part of one of our former teams, Woodgate and in my mind one of the classiest players to grace the WMCFL. Nice see you back Dave.

And that's it for Division One. There were four matches scheduled but Renewal Solihull v Sheldon (under-soil heating failure), Rowley College v St. Matthew's (don't ask Pete, he hasn't calmed down yet) and St. Mary's v Dynamo were all off.

Division Two

Brierley Hill 0 Halesowen Zion 4

Halesowen move back into top spot with a solid 4-0 result against Brierley Hill. Halesowen's Grant Doran takes up the tale: Not the best game to be honest with very little quality football played. A fairly solid defensive performance from Zion meant that we went in at half time one goal to the good. Ben Doran converted from close range after pushing the ball past the home keeper.

The second half was played mainly in the Brierley Hill half but it took the injury to the Brierley Hill keeper before we managed to notch our second. No prizes for guessing who scored. (Tom Doran). The second goal seemed to knock the wind out Brierley Hill and Zion knocked two more goals from Chris Noon and Paul Debney. With the game tied up we brought on the three subs which disrupted the flow of the game. For the final fifteen minutes the football was a return to the first half scrappy at best, but we had done what we came to do and that was to leave with three more points.

Sandwell United 1 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 11

Wolves went one better than Clarendon and secured what I think is this season's highest score line. Hat-trick man Tom Baugh sent in this report: Wolves got back to winning ways after a disappointing exit from the Cup last week. I didn't send in a report but I'd like to wish Selly Oak well in the remainder of the competition. I think they could well surprise a few teams if they make the mistake of underestimating them.

I think the score from yesterdays match says everything you need to know. Olly and myself both bagged hat-tricks along with a double from the returning John Morris (no jokes please Ed) (what about you or John?-Ed) and one each from Tom Johnson, Nathan Lodge and Adam French. I see Olly is among the leading scorers in Division Two now. Particularly impressive when you consider he plays in midfield.

The table doesn't lie, Sandwell are bottom and will probably finish there come the end of the season. From my personal perspective however, I don't think they're the weakest team in terms of individual players. If they could organise themselves and stick together as a team for ninety minutes, they'd definitely see a significant upturn in their results. I think if they can hold on to all their players and learn from the remainder of this season, then they can aim for bigger and better things next time around.

In terms of our season, we're out of the Cup so have one thing only to aim for - promotion. At the start of the season I was looking at both the Zions, St. Thomas' and King's as competition but with Selly Oak now seriously in the mix, it's any ones' game. I still think we can tip it in our balance though with a decent run of performances, so full steam ahead!

Selly Oak Methodist 4 Walsall Olympic 2

And last but not least, Selly Oak do the triple on Walsall, who must be sick of the sight of them. Interestingly, Selly Oak once again scored a bag full of goals which came from several players who all scored one. I'm not saying that it's a good or bad sign but I think I'd rather have the whole team knocking them in rather than relying on one or two people who score all the goals. I'd say it's better for the team spirit and if your one striker is having an off day or breaks his metatarsal, then you're up the creek without a paddle.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill sent in this report: What a great start to 2008 were through to the quarter finals of the Cup as Division Two’s only representative and we completed the treble over a tough battling Walsall Olympic. The weather on Friday night suggested that the fixture might not go ahead however the sun was shining on Raddlebarn Rd Saturday morning as the teams took to the field.

The first half was pretty much dominated by Selly Oak as Walsall failed to cope with the pace and passing of our midlfield and it wasn’t long before we’d hit the post and produced a plethora of chances. The opener however was a pretty scrappy goal with two midfielders putting pressure on the keeper. Nathaniel Regisford managed to scramble the ball across the face of goal and Jamie Williams was on hand to knock it into the back of the net from a few yards out. The only pressure from Walsall in the first half came from a few long balls towards the back four. We added to our advantage about ten minutes before the half I’m sure I heard a call from our coach Jason Weston “Knowles I aint seen you go on a run all game!” Literally five seconds later the ball falls to Michael and off he went he battled past his defender and slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 2-0 at half time. Walking to the team talk I noticed the pitch had started to cut up and knew we were in for a much slower second half.

The second half was a chalk and cheese performance. Despite getting an early goal from Nathaniel Regisford out on the right to make it 3-0, we took our foot off the pedal, which you cannot afford to do against Walsall and were punished by an absolute peach of a goal from their no. 13. He was carried off twice against us in our last match, the second time unconscious I believe. He more than showed us what he was made of today, with a 25 yard top corner strike and a jinxing run through our defence and a neat slotted strike for his second to make it 3-2. This would’ve rattled us in previous seasons, however the rallying cry went round the team and we managed to put the game to bed with a solid strike from Dean Palmer just inside the box and that’s how it finished 4-2.

The only negative point from the result is Samuel Antwi had to be subbed off through injury and with Halesowen Zion to play next we will need everyone fit and available for what is a very important match. We're now third but only by goal difference and only two points off the top with the top two to play before our quarter final fixture against Amblecote in February. Three wins and were in an excellent position we could have only dreamed off last season. Three losses will leave us back in a scrap for third and out of the Cup WATCH THIS SPACE!!

Saturday Review

We've almost now completed the Group Phase of the League Cup with all but one match settled. I'm a bit busy over this week-end, having to work, two kids' games to watch and a job interview to prepare for, so pardon me if I sign off in a bit and come back later.

I did manage to work the Cups page but forgot to upload it, so my apologies to those of you that have been calculating it yourselves. It is on the server now. Also, I had quite a few texts yesterday asking for updates, but was unable to respond due to time constraints, so sorry about that too.

Anyway, onto the business. This year's group phase of the Cup competition lasted well. We didn't see too many dead rubbers, with only eight of the twenty-two with just pride to play for. On my referees' course, one of the instructors said there is no such thing as a friendly. One down from a friendly is a match in which the clubs have nothing to play for and we saw yesterday quite a few teams playing as if a cup final place was at stake despite being unable to make the top two.

Group A

Selly Oak continue with their superb form this season with a 3-0 win at home to Wolves and Perton. The result secures a place in their first ever Cup quarter final and top spot. They will play Group C runners up: Clarendon, Amblecote or Chawn. Our perception of Selly Oak is rapidly changing from Division Two stragglers to a confident and dangerous team to play. The big test will come on 9 February when they take on First Division opposition. There's a big question mark in my mind about the difference between the two divisions. Oddly, Selly Oak's sole defeat in this group came at the hands of the only Division One team they faced: Solihull.

Despite a gallant attempt, St. Boniface miss out on second place. They failed to beat Walsall Olympic by sufficient goals and have to settle for third place behind last year's beaten finalists Solihull. St. Boniface's Simon Adams blamed their lack of goals on the second half performance against E K weeks ago. After leading 4-0 at half time, the match ended 7-2. Had the first half's four goals without reply been repeated, then St. B would have qualified.

In my book, whilst exiting at this stage on goal-difference is disappointing; St. Boniface have done themselves proud in this group. Only losing one match out of five and scoring more than four a game is good form. If they can return results at a rate of ten points every five matches into the League, then they will finish the season on 34 points.

Group B

The Rowley Renaissance continues as they top Group B and cruise into the quarters for the second season running. Pete Bennett's team were unbeaten and dropped just two points in their first match against Dynamo, although they nearly dropped two more yesterday. Pete takes up the story: An odd game today. The first half looked like what we’d expected: Halesowen playing their usual tidy football but unable to cover over the fact they had nothing very much to play for and us trying to make sure we got the win to get us the group. Within twenty minutes all had gone to plan with Alan Micklewright and Jamie Hunter giving us a 2-0 lead and Mark Southall having a goal disallowed. There was then a nasty collision between Hunter and their stand-in keeper Dave Walters which left Dave concussed and Hunter badly bruised and took the wind out of the game for a while.

As the first half approached its end we then conceded when Rob Hill’s clearance hit Mark Turton and rebounded to Tom Doran who coolly added to his considerable total. At the time it seemed a blip but in fact the second half was so very different. Halesowen equalised soon after the break after our keeper Alun Inett had made a great save following a corner and then showed little understanding of the term ‘dead rubber’. The rest of the game was a real battle with both teams equally likely to win it. Thankfully we turned the trend and ourselves snatched a very late winner in a sweeping move that saw us break from our own corner flag via Warner and Craig Micklewright who in turn found the unselfish McIvor who squared for Alan Micklewright to score his second. Very hard on Halesowen but surely they’ll be on their way up a division come April.

The win for Rowley means they get the home tie in the last eight and play Sheldon instead of St. Matthew's. You may think that the Sheldon tie is easier but considering that they beat St. Matthew's 2-0 recently and then lost by a single goal, I would say that there isn't much in it.

St. Mary's join Rowley in the knock-out phase with a 4-0 win at home to Bilston. The win sets up a mouth-watering (sorry about the cliche) local derby with St. Matthew's. These teams have played out some ding-dong matches over the years, not least of which was the finale to the 2004/5 season when St. Mary's defeated St. Matt's 2-1 in April of that year to secure promotion when St. Matt's had been in the top three for some time.

Nick Sprason texted: The poor pitch didn't help either side. Bilston gave it a good go but we were just too strong for them.

Group C

Amblecote knocked out King's this week-end with a 4-1 win at home. Shawn Devonport who scored two in the match said 'I think you have got your prediction wrong Ed. King's are better than fourth and will get one of the automatic promotion spots.

In the last game of the group phase, Chawn host Amblecote at South Road for a place in the last eight. A win for Chawn will set up a quarter-final tie away at Selly Oak, whereas any other result will mean Amblecote go through. Amblecote can deplace Clarendon at the top of the table if they win by two or more, meaning they would have home advantage and a match with Solihull instead of Selly Oak.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby writes: Saturday was one of those games that you never know how to approach it. We are pretty good at home so would have been favourites but if King's had won they would have gone through to the quarter finals so they were definitely up for the Cup.

As it turned out, having gone 1-0 up early on, the game was pretty much decided when one of the King's players handled on the line to allow us to go 2-0 up and them down to 10 men. It's one of those incidents where neither teams wants the player sent off because you rather have 11 v 11 but the ref has no choice. (Plus its a gutter as a fellow defender as we have flung our arm in the air and stopped the ball - its a natural reaction).

We were able to capitalise and went 3-0 up before the break through a Terry Butcher style stooping header from Rob Dickinson and I suppose I better also say that Jadon Silva's early goal, was a 90 yard run from our penalty spot through about five players and into the opposition box before finishing well!! George Weah eat your heart out.

Credit to King's though, who played really well with 10 men and got a goal back with ten mins left, but probably a bit too late and as they pushed forward Shawn Devonport got his second goal with a good finish on the break.

So its all on next week Amblecote v Chawn, winner goes through.

Group D

Sheldon beat St. Thomas' Aldridge narrowly to progress to the quarter final and set up a tie with Rowley College. The result dumps St. Thomas' out of the Cup as the game was effectively a knock-out. They currently lead Division Two and frees them up to concentrate solely on that. Before this season, Sheldon had not won a game in the League Cup, so maybe they've been saving all the wins for this year?

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher texted a report: A hard fought game by both teams with no quarter given. Both sides scored a goal in the first half. Sheldon went ahead in the second half with Mike Hinton adding to his first half effort. St. Thomas' levelled but then had a player sent off, which put them on the back foot. Jamie Parsons scored our winner and a trip into the quarter finals.

In Group D's dead rubber, it sounded nothing like. I'll let Myles Wilson take up the tale: Sandwell lost 4-3 today against Zion in the Cup but played very well. Our first half was one of our best ending it 2-0 up as it was nearly all one way traffic. Second half not as planned as Zion came out fighting. After some pressure they won penalty and scored to make it 2-1. A bit later we had a player sent off who was help to hold midfield together, so we lost our grip in that department. We went down to 2-4.Their third was a great shot from outside penalty area, fourth goal was caused by miss kick by goalkeeper after back pass. I was proud way we came back to 3-4 and almost equalised. The ball hit the post and rolled across goal mouth beforebeing cleared. If we can replicate our first half performance we may win some matches.

Ed, our last game aganist King's was not onesided as looked. The match stood at 2-2 after seventy minutes after being 2-0 down at half time, then the flood gates opened.

Jallen texted: Zion Athletic 4 Sandwell United 3. James Hamilton 2, James Toomey, Jon Allen (wonder goal).

Zion's James Hamilton adds: Not much to play for today as we are both out of the Cup and it showed in our first half performance. I think some of our team (including me) had had a bit too much turkey and were feeling the effects! We came in 2-0 down after a terrible showing in the first 45.

The second half was a different story. We scored four goals, playing some lovely football. Sandwell lost their discipline after this, but pulled a goal back and were unlucky not to get an equaliser when they had a shot bounce off the inside of the post, roll right along the line, only to be gathered up by our grateful keeper.

Back to the League next week where we have got some ground to make up on the teams above us. If we play anything like we did in the second half, we will certainly win alot more games this season.

There definately seemed to be a 'lucky end' in that match - Ed

Division One

Chawn Hill Church 1 Dynamo Kingswinford 3

Dynamo move from the fringes of the relegation zone to mid-table with a 3-1 win away at Chawn. Gary Lamsdale texted: A great win for DK against a tough Chawn side.

More to follow

Happy New Year

Very best wishes to everyone involved in WMCFL. It looks like snow this week. Let's hope it keeps off for Saturday, we have some crucial Cup matches as the Group Phase draws to a close.

Here's part of an email I received in response to the All Time Top Scorers' page: It's from Jonathan Swain formerly of Walsall Olympic, known to many as Ezza. Great to see the updated Goals chart. Here is an interesting fact for you. Richard Marsh of Aldridge Parish (who has since gone on to captain Walsall Rugby Club) once scored 69 goals in a season - I know I got 59 that year and was really disappointed not to be top scorer! I am sure that must be the record and would be a great challenge to put out to Tom Doran and others.

Olympic started that season well and we beat Aldridge in our fourth game. I had started the season scoring 3, 4, 3, 4 so was on 14 after 4 and feeling good. It was the fifth game for Aldridge that year and I was somewhat shocked after the game to hear that Richard was already on 24 goals for the season!
I think it shows that the leagues are more competitive now than in those days!

I hope to get to see St. Matthew's between now and the end of the season as they play not far from our house and at the venue of my home hockey matches.

Happy New Year to you and all involved with WMCFL.

Jonathan Swain

Ed's Review

Click here to read Ed's predictions and review

All Time Top Scorers

Much to my wife's chagrin, I have managed to update the All Time Top Scorers' page. I was banned from even switching on the computer on Christmas and Boxing Day. She went to work today, so I was set free. Anyway, I could do with a break from the Wii; my arms and legs are aching and my seven year old son beat me 3-0 on FIFA 08.

You can find the page through the Archive link if you are interested. You now need to have scored at least 19 goals to feature in the top 50.

No change with the top 4 of Martin Nicholls on 74 in the lead, followed by Mark Hadden on 68 who is rapidly closing the gap. Shawn Devonport's 11 this season takes him past 60. Then there's a big gap to Lee Darlington in fourth on 46.

Aaron Williamson drops to seventh, leap-frogged by Tom Doran and Chris Morrison, both on 42. Tom's 21 this season propels him from 28th and doubles his tally from previous seasons. Chris's highly creditable ten with E K Corinthia in their debut season puts him on a par with Tom.

Out of the top 50, only 15 have managed to score in all five of the seasons we have records for. One of whom Jamie Hunter jumps from 14th to 8th with 8 goals, which suprisingly equals his best ever. I'm sure he will make it into double figures for the first time in 2008.

Just outside the top 10 is Steven Cockcroft on 33, having added 11 since September, which moves him up ten places equal with Curtis Jordan. The Chawn team are sharing the goals between them this season.

Marvin Nisbett is straight in at number 29 with a bullet, the highest new entry. I'm sure he'll be adding to the 23 he has already scored in the short time he has been with WMCFL.

Nice to see some stalwarts of the League in the top 50: Mark Southall, Nick Sprason, Jon Roberts, David Broome and Andy Aston all on 21 goals and all 5 of these lads have found the net in every year since I've been counting.

All the best for 2008.

Ed

Saturday Review

Division One

Renewal Solihull 0 St. Matthew's 5

St. Matthew's get their campaign firmly back on track with a solid win away at one of the more difficult fixtures on the card: Renewal Solihull. St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls reports: A good performance this week from St. Matthew's and I am glad to report it resulted in a 5-0 victory.

St. Matthew's started at a high tempo and were rewarded when Ricky Roberts danced down the left and placed a shot across the keeper in to the far corner. We were quickly in to a two goal lead when Nicholls chested down a throw and volleyed in from an acute angle. There were doubts as to whether yours truely meant to shoot or whether it was just a cross. Of course I will say I meant it. (Does any one think that Mart would honest pass that close to the goal? - Ed). This put us in a strong position at half time.

Second half saw Solihull come out and come at us. The St. Matthew's defence remained organised and stayed strong and allowed us to increase our lead later in the half. Marvin Nisbett was able to fire home after Paul Beagan found him in the box. Beagan was able to add a fourth after his shot caught the keeper wrong-footed and just had enough on it to roll over the line. Nisbett broke free again late on and squared for Carlos Ivans to score from close range.

This was a keenly contested game played in good spirits and very well refereed. I would especially like to thank the Solihull centre half who bought Ferrara Roche after the match!! - I think he means Ferrero Rocher, Hazlenut chocolates in silver paper - Ferrara Roche is an Italian Supermodel - Ed

City Church 0 Amblecote 4

Amblecote's Simon Ashby emails: Another good result yesterday as we beat a good City Athletic team, with two goals in either half proving the difference. I have found City quite confusing in the two games we have played them, as they look to have some excellent players and yesterday battered us for the first 15 minutes, so not sure why they find themselves bottom at Christmas. It might be a confidence thing for a newly promoted team, but I am sure they will improve and beat some teams after New Year.

For us, we started a bit shakily, but then began to improve with Shawn Devonport smashing home a penalty midway through the half. When Jadon Silva scored a left footed goal (yeah we couldnt believe it either) the opposition heads seem to go down a bit. The second half was fairly comfortable then with two further goals including a header from 3'4" Rion Mills against a 6' plus defence (only joking Ri) which put the seal on a good win.

With half the season gone we are ten points adrift..... but with St Matts and Clarendon still to play twice (two 0-0's please boys) then you never know!

City's Ross Fittall adds: Despite a bright start, we again struggled to make the most of our better periods in the game. Another soft penalty against us, although probably the right decision, knocked us back. Amblecote played well in the second half, with us creating very little. We are competing in every game we play, so we're still confident we can get some results in the New Year and put up a fight for survival.

Rowley College 2 St. Mary's 2

Both Rowley and St. Mary's slip a little as they shared the points in a two-all draw at Lion Farm. Pete Bennett reports: For the third game running we were involved in a highly competitive and entertaining game that proved what a really tight league this potentially is. Also for the third game running we were disappointed late on, this time by having a potential winner chalked out for offside. In the context of the whole this was not a ‘travesty’, nor did it mean that the referee had a bad game (though when a big decision goes against you that’s often your first response) but it is the second time this season that Jamie Hunter has had cracking goals ruled out by appointed assistant referees. Today he curled a beauty in from outside the box with five minutes to go only for a flag to go up presumably for someone ‘stage left’ who I thought wasn't interfering. The St. Mary’s lads seemed as surprised as us. However they must also have been wondering how they didn’t win the game having hit the woodwork three times in the closing stages.

The ‘Christmas’ fixture is often tricky for getting out your best team but I wasn’t far off today until our goalkeeper, Alun Inett, rang up to say he’d been called into work and would be late. I hastily rearranged the side with Rowe in goal and Matty Stanton at centre back but it didn’t stop us being murdered in the first twenty five minutes. St Mary’s simply battered our goal, scoring early and then going very close three or four times more (including one scramble on our goal-line). Then Alun arrived (and got the key to get changed) and I told him how badly things were going yet by the time he’d come out, kitted, we were 2-1 in front. Hunter had firstly delivered an almost undefendable long throw that Johnny Warr had headed in and then we’d finally started to play. Five minutes later Olly Staien’s powerful shot was beaten out to Alan Micklewright to score from on the goal-line.

We got Inett into goal at half time and the second half was fairly even. Crucially we missed a decent chance at 2-1 up and then conceded an equaliser, leaving 35 goal-less minutes (surprisingly). As I’ve implied we ‘scored’ one but St Mary’s had a least three unlucky near-misses and will consider themselves unfortunate not to have won it.

Merry Christmas to all from the Rowley boys!

St. Mary's Nick Sprason texted: An entertaining two-all draw today against Rowley. We hit the woodwork twice in the last five minutes but they had a goal strangely chalked off for offside.

Division Two

Brierley Hill AOG 4 St. Thomas' Aldridge 5

Every season, alsmost without fail, Brierley Hill throw out a score line that defies the form books and reminds us all that you have to take your games against this side very seriously. St. Thomas' escaped with the three points from their encounter with Division Two's hustlers but only by the odd goal in nine.

St. Thomas' Rob Hill texted 'We were *rubbish' (*edited).

Brierley Hill's Ian Baker also sent me an unpublishable text, however finished with 'However, very enjoyable'.

Halesowen Zion 3 St. Boniface 0

Halesowen Zion, also not in the best of form, also secure three points at home to St. Boniface. Tom Doran nicked another two goals to take his total to 21, well on the way to beat Martin Nicholls' record of 30 in one season. His brother Grant reports: After last week's defeat we needed to make sure we responded with a win and fingers crossed a better display. We got the win and a slight improvement in performance.

The early part of the game was pretty scrappy as both teams looked to establish themselves. We did create a few decent chances which all fell to Tom Doran, but after his Christmas do last night he was slightly off-colour. However, after he had squandered three good opportunities, he found the target with a complete mis-timed header that looped up and over the Boniface keeper and into the net. He soon added his second from about six yards after some great work from Skell down the right flank. St Boniface had a man sent off and as is usual the ten men rallied and could easily have scored with a good break down the flank.

In the second half, Boniface had several good chances to get back into the game after their centre back beat three Zion players and thundered a half volley off the bar from fully 30 yards. Halesowen made sure of the points with a quick break and chip over the onrushing keeper by Doran.(this time it was Ben and not Tom). All in all a nice way to sign the year off, clean sheet, three goals and no injuries.

Finally, credit to the ref who I thought had a very good game from start to finish.

Dave Walters adds: A much needed win for us today, with Tom grabbing a couple of first half goals, but probably he should have had more in the first period in which we were well on top. Second half was a different game, we took a 3-0 lead with an early goal from Ben, but after that St Boniface came at us and should have really scored but it was not their day. We always looked likely to get another as they pushed on, but it stayed 3-0.

A Happy Christmas and new year to everyone.

Zion Athletic 2 Selly Oak Methodist 5

Selly Oak strengthened their position in third and look ready to steal it from the top two with another solid looking result. Zion's James Hamilton provides a report: An important game today for both sides and in the end Selly Oak seemed to want this one more than us. We took the lead twice but collapsed in the last 20 minutes of the game. Selly Oak have built a strong and fit team who never give in. I'm sure they are going to win promotion this year if they continue to grind out results like this.

As for us, we are looking forward to having our top scorer from last season back after Christmas. Jon Taylor has been out all season with an ankle injury and his return can't come soon enough.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 2 Walsall Olympic 5

Walsall stun W&P with a 5-2 win. The result punctures W&P's ambitions of a quick return to Division One and leaves Walsall on top of the bottom half of the table.

W&P's Tom Baugh reports: I always write my match reports at least a day after they've taken place. Why? Well, it's very easy to be biased and let your thoughts and opinions become clouded with the emotions of the match. Indeed we're all guilty of making the same excuses when we lose; no players, awful pitch, bad decisions etc etc. But yesterday, in the second half, we were outplayed by a team hungrier for the win. We were 2-1 up at one stage and making a lot of chances but all credit to Walsall for a fantastic performance that combined a lot of grit and determination with no small amount of ability.

I'm not going to go into great detail because although I can be magnanimous, it doesn't mean I have to like it!! On a personal note, it was nice to take one of the four glaring chances I was presented with. That's one more than usual!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to everyone in the WMCFL.

King's AFC 8 Sandwell United 2

No mistake from King's with this fixture as they dispatch bottom club Sandwell with ease. King's look ready to join the promotion race and will be right with the top three if they can win their two games in hand. Sandwell are not adrift at the bottom and will look to build on the first half of the season, their target will be to avoid the dreaded wooden spoon.

E K Corinthia 1 Bilston Beacons 0

And last but not least, Chris Morrison clinches all three points with his tenth goal of the season against his old club Bilston Beacons with a single strike. Taking the Cup games out of the equation, EK's League form over the last two months looks good, beating King's, giving leaders St. Thomas' a stern test and avoiding defeat in their last two.

Saturday Review

Division One

St. Matthew's 2 Chawn Hill Church 4

Every now and then, Chawn Hill seem to have a dalliance with relegation. It's never too serious and they always seem to get over it. Whilst they are still in the bottom three as we speak, if they can beat the runaway leaders and Clarendon too (4-2 in the Cup a few weeks back) then the other teams in the Division's nether regions need to look out.

Today's match saw an identical score line for Chawn, running out 4-2 winners again, with the same three Chawn Hillians scoring although a different combination. Martin Nicholls remains as the League's All Time Top Scorer, chipping in with number seventy-two and seventy-three. He could not prevent his side slipping to their second defeat of the season, although St. Matthew's have a nine point cushion.

St Matthew's Martin Nicholls emailed a report: After a two week break we faced Chawn at home. No disrepect meant but when you have a few players out to illness and had two weeks without a fixture, the last team you want to face on a cold December morning is Chawn. You know you are going to have a hard game against Chawn and this proved no exception.

As I mentioned we were mssing several players but did still field a good team. We took the lead in the first half when Ricky Roberts, in an unfamiliar striking role, went on a mazy run and crossed for Nicholls to dive and head home. Chawn pegged us back before half time with a neatly despatched penalty and added a second from a set piece.

Chawn came at us second half and went further ahead. I thought our keeper was fouled but the referee disagreed and the ball was bundled in. St Matthew's pulled another back with a Nicholls penalty and should have had the game level at 3-3 but, Mike Kain saved the second penalty. Mr Kain was outstanding, pulling off save after save, with several being point blank. We were reduced to ten men, just as it seemed we were getting back in to the game and Chawn punished us by adding a fourth as we pressed for an equaliser.

This was a very competitive fixture. We were beaten by a team today that were hungrier and out competed us. Fair play to Chawn and I am sure that this won't be the only 'upset' they cause this season!!

St. Mary's 5 City Church 2

St. Mary's continue with their purple patch, sneaking into second spot as Sheldon slipped at Amblecote. I know I keep going on about this, but just have a flick through the Archive pages and look at the tables going back until about 2004. Our two top teams feature heavily in the bowels of the League Tables; how times have changed.

City's Martin Ogbourn texted: Paul Snelgrove and Louis Quaintaince scored with the best two strikes of the game. It was a tight in the first half that finished 0-0. We had hit the post and one effort was cleared off the line amongst other chances, yet we conceded four in a mad spell in the second. I have to admit that they deserved to win but 5-2 was harsh.

St. Mary's Phil Kinson adds: They battled hard but we created more chances in the second half.

The result does leave City with much to do if they are to escape dropping straight back down.

Amblecote 3 Sheldon 0

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher texted: Ambelcote took the first half and scored two. But we should have responded with at least one. A better second period for SHeldon but Amblecote were worthy winners.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby emailed: Good game for Amblecote yesterday as we continue to improve our league form. Having beat Sheldon 7-0 in the first game they have definitely improved as a team and were much harder to break down this time around.

But today did see something of a rare sight, a left footed hat-trick from a right footed striker, as Shawn Devonport found his form at just the right time. The first goal had a touch of fortune attached to it, as the ball deflected off him into an open goal, although his mazy run deserved it (just), but the second goal from a tight angle seconds before the break proved the decisive moment in a tight game.

In the second half we played well with a two goal lead and secured the points with the third strike from our top marksman as the half wore on.

With St Matt's and Clarendon dropping points you never know in this league, but still a long way to go. Good run of home form for us though... we havent let a competitive goal in at home in four games so far this season.

Rowley College 3 Clarendon 3

Whilst these clubs are placed mid-table, from the reports I had, the game was hardly mediocre. You'd expect Clarendon to move into second with their games in hand and if they win all three, they'll be just two behind St. Matthew's, so we're expecting a barn-storming finish to the League. Just one statistic to point out: Prior to today's game, Clarendon had only conceded two goal in five League matches. Today, their defence was breached three times!

Clarendon's Louis Williams texted: A superb game played in great spirit. Either team could have won it. A fair result.

Rowley's Pete Bennett expands: A real cracker today: the sort of game that makes you forget partisanship and simply enjoy the football. Rowley v Clarendon games have a tendency to be close fought and enthralling but this one topped the lot. I think the result was a fair one, though it’s always hard to see the extra two points snatched away two minutes from time. On reflection Clarendon had most of the possession and we had most of the chances. Some of the football they played going forward was at times sublime, lots of fluid movement and sure touch but a mobile and spirited performance from Jamie Hunter ensured that Roger Moore had to be at his best at the back for them also (and that’s a pretty good ‘best'!)

The first half started with a lot of Clarendon pressure, meaning our opener was very much against the run of play: but what a goal! Hunter held it up and turned on it for Alan Micklewright to crash a screamer into the top corner. They then became twice as keen but we had further chances on the break. Then, just when it looked like we’d got to half time at 1-0, they equalised following one of a succession of long throws. Both teams came out confidently in the second half and the football just got better.

Clarendon broke the deadlock early in the half with a slick break from the half way line and a tidy finish and threatened to put it to bed with a period of pressure in which they had a goal disallowed (the ref was sure there was some holding in the build up but the finish was excellent). I turned our 4-5-1 into a 4-4-2 by dropping skipper Warr back alongside the excellent Mark Turton at centre half (this lad may prove to be the find of the season) and throwing on Ricky McLaren up front. This made an immediate difference with Ricky giving Hunter much needed support. The momentum was suddenly very much with us, though the equaliser came from a speculative 50 yarder from Stewart Harvey that dipped just under the bar. Their keeper then made two brilliant saves from Alan Micklewright and especially from a Jamie Hunter thunderbolt before a back post cross found Southall who turned beyond their defender and cracked it in (via a number of touches I suspect).

This was seventeen or so minutes from time and for fifteen of those we stood firm, continuing to play our football while they tried to get the game back. Finally we threw it away in the sense that we had an attacking corner much closer to full time than we thought and flung it in rather than keeping it and killing the game. (Houllier is still not speaking to Ginola - Ed). Ah well these things happen. Of course Clarendon got the ball and swept up field cutting back a great ball from the by line for Everton Morrison to complete his hat trick with a brilliant volley. Our man of the match Mark Turton was in despair, slipping into his South Yorkshire dialect as he raged “Tha should of kept it int’ corner”(think Sean Bean)! However, objectively it was a great goal and a fitting end to a great game.

Dynamo Kingswinford 0 Renewal Solihull 0

A stalemate at Bantock Park that helps neither side. Dynamo's situation is better than Renewal's but with Chawn in form and Solihull's reputation as the League's escapologists, who will be in the bottom three come May?

Division Two

St. Thomas' Aldridge 4 Sandwell United 0

Goals from Matt Brady (2), Mark Hadden and Matt Challinor, who seems to have found his scoring boots this season, secure the points for St. Thomas' that see them over take Halesowen at the top of Division Two.

King's 3 Halesowen Zion 2

King's Willis Mullin texted: A deserved win for a ten man King's.

Halesowen seem to be slipping a little recently and will need to correct the slide if they are to remain in the top places as the teams around them are winning, with W&P finding form and Selly Oak having lost just one of their ten League matches this season. However, in Tom Doran, who scored his eighteenth and nineteenth goals of the campaign, they have a lethal marksman.

Halesowen's Grant Doran emailed: Not really sure what the problem is, but yet again Zion managed to play worse than in the previous weeks WHICH HAVE BEEN VERY POOR. Kings were on top from the first whistle and actually got better when they had their striker sent off. But for two great blocks from stand in keeper Chris Noon the score line could have been more. Although we did have three clear one on ones (all of which we missed) and hit the bar, we were only ever playing on the break and never really had any sustained pressure. The only positive is that Tom managed to notch another two goals and stay on course to be top scorer. (If he does win the Golden Boot then Ben and Iwill never hear the end of it).

Well done Kings on a deserved victory!!

Selly Oak Methodist 5 St. Boniface 1

Another two goals for Michael Knowles helps his side to an emphatic score line and closes the gap on the top two. Selly Oak are exceeding expectations this season but as the year progresses the target of Division One football starts to appear from over the horizon and comes into focus. A win for Selly Oak next week will put them into a very strong position going into the New Year.

Brierley Hill AOG 1 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 4

Nice to see Ian Pilkington on the score sheet for Brierley Hill. Pilk is one of Brierley Hill's seasoned veterans who has been appearing for the side sporadically for decades. But it was Olly Jones who stole the show with a hat-trick as his team cruised to victory.

Wolves Tom Baugh emailed: It turns out there are no easy games at South Road, no matter who you're playing.

This was a match that I never really enjoyed playing in for all the usual December reasons, awful pitch, no space etc. However, the task of getting three points was made significantly harder by the tenacity of the opposition.

By half time Brierley Hill would have probably thought they deserved to be in the lead, having hit woodwork a couple of times and had the misfortune of seeing a goalbound effort miraculously cleared off the line by Nathan Lodge. However, it was W&P and Adam French who opened the scoring with a free kick that cleverly deceived the keeper at his front post. This was canceled out by the interval though after a snapshot came loose from Rich's grasp, allowing Ian Pilkington to fire home.

The tea cups went flying at half time as Andy Page read the riot act after a poor first period. We knew we needed to get a result here if we were serious about getting back into Division at the first attempt.

When you're struggling to make headway in a match you can often only hope your best players produce something special, and Olly Jones did exactly that with a brilliant second half hat-trick. Call me biased, but I'm telling you there's not a better player in the WMCFL than Olly. His three goals were all pretty similar but equally assured on what was an uneven pitch. He picked up the pieces after the goalie had spilled a shot to run in and smash Wolves back into the lead, before firing his second under the keepers body from the edge of the box. His hat-trick was completed with a trademark turn of pace and an angled shot across the keeper.

Another tricky fixture next weekend at home to Walsall, but on our pitch with everyone on form, I think we can get the result.

Zion Athletic 2 E K Corinthia 2

E K take a point and move up a place from their fixture with Zion. The influential Steve Harper and ex-Bilston Mike Green with the goals.

Jallen texted: We came from behind twice and I felt we did enough to win apart from putting the ball in the net. Well done EK!

Zion's James Hamilton followed up with an email: Disappointed with a draw today having had loads of chances with EK only having three shots all game and scoring from two of them. We went behind twice but really should have taken three points today. We also missed a penalty. I won't mention any names - mainly because I can't spell his name. We'll have to put in a better performance next week if we are going to take anything from next week's clash with Selly Oak. EK will be pleased with this away draw, well played lads.

Walsall Olympic v Bilston Beacons

Crossed wires meant no game with one of the clubs believing they had no match and hence did not show. The Committee will adjudicate on this one when they meet on 19 February.

Matthew Thomas

Or Tommo as he's more commonly known, has now been transferred to Russell's Hall hospital, so please go and see him if you can. I recently spent two days in hospital and that was more than enough. Tommo is in good spirits, despite his injuries.

Rob Hill from St. Thomas' Aldridge sends this message: Best wishes to Matthew Thomas wishing you a speedy recovery from all at St Thomas' Aldridge.

Saturday Review

League Cup

Nearly a complete wash-out today as the rain threatened to wreck the week-end's football. Only three games played and where they were played, I bet some folks wished they'd never bothered as the rain poured down all day.

Group A

E K Corinthia 1 Renewal Solihull 9

Renewal Solihull knew what they had to do today and with E K well and truly side-lined in Group A, I guess the pre-match talk was of how many. Having said that, sometimes teams clam up and do everything but score and others, when there is nothing to play for and the pressure is off, revel in the freedom.

It was the former of the two today and Solihull may well have done enough to win the group. Tim Payne from Solihull texted me and asked me what they needed to do. I thought 10-0 wouldn't hurt, but 9-1 may not even get them through. Solihull have enjoyed two Cup Finals in the last three seasons, but if Selly Oak beat Wolves and St. Boniface beat Walsall by six, then Solihull are dumped out of the competition.

However, Wolves, currently in fourth, can still progress if they beat Selly Oak in their last match by seven, will guarantee a place in the top two. Failing that, they must beat Selly Oak by a margin that is two better than St. Boniface's, assuming that St. Boniface beat Walsall, which is far from assured. Simple? I'm about to start my third beer...

Group B

Brierley Hill 1 Dynamo Kingswinford 4

I have never know a match to be called off on that top pitch at South Road in Stourbridge. There was one instance that I can remember when the whole programme had been wiped out on a day like today. Amblecote were playing St. Matthew's and Simon French was reffing. He assured me that should it start raining during the game, we would abandon the match. About half way through the first half it started hammering down and guess what? We played the full ninety.

Today, Brierley Hill put up stubborn resistance to Dynamo who really could have done with a double-figure score line. Some of you maybe wondering how Matt Pearson got his name on the list of scorers. I'm told it was directly from a goal-kick. I haven't had much detail about the match, but I would imagine that it was from the car park end where a goalie can benefit from a down hill slope. The pitch is not too long and with the wind that was blowing, it would not be too difficult for someone with a big kick to reach the other end of the pitch. But I bet you will dine out on that one for a while Matt.

Dynamo are far from assured a place in the quarters. If St. Mary's beat Bilston they are in the last eight, but here's the twist: I did think Rowley had qualified, but if Halesowen beat Rowley by six or more then Dynamo go through and Rowley will be praying that Bilston do a number on St. Mary's. Incidentally, Halesowen are out. Sorry lads.

Group C

Clarendon 2 City Church 0

Another match to survive the weather. Martin Ogbourn texted: The game was played in Baltic weather conditions and won by the better side on the day.

Clarendon go through to the the quarter-final of the Cup in a competition that they have never won but I'm they'd like to. They await the result of the remaining two games to see who accompanies them from Group C. It could be one of three clubs. If King's beat Amblecote, they go through. If Amblecote win their last two, then they go through. If the Amblecote King's game is a draw and Chawn beat Amblecote, then Chawn go through! If Amblecote beat King's and Chawn beat Amblecote then Chawn go through.

Whatever the result of these matches, we will have eight hungry teams in the last eight of the competition which seems to have grown considerably in stature over recent years. Let me put on record at this point that the Grove at Halesowen Town has not yet been booked. We are just a little worried as Halesowen Town seems to be changing hands. It would be a great shame if we cannot book it again this year as this would be the ninth season we've had the final there.

Hopefully our fears will be unfounded and the match will go ahead as usual. I'll keep you posted.

Message from the Thomas clan (Helen, Tommo, Kieran and Sophie) - On 16 November at 05:04, Tommo was in a serious road traffic accident between his petrol tanker and an articulated lorry. Tom remembers nothing of the accident. We understand that the lorry pulled out in front of Tommo and his tanker his the back of it.

Tommo had to be cut out of the vehicle and sustained serious injuries. He has a shattered right knee, a shattered left wrist, five broken ribs on the right side, extensive scarring above and involving his left eye and a fractured pelvis. It is a good job that he was wearing his seat belt and that he is thin or could have been much worse. He has had two operations so far, one lasting six hours and the other two and a half hours. He may have more surgery in the future.

Despite all this, he is in good spirits and is starting to hop around a bit on a frame. The accident happened on the A14 in Northamptonshire and so is at present at Kettering General Hospital; but are hoping to transfer him to Russell's Hall some time this week.

He was very happy to know you are all thinking and praying for us and sends everyone his best.

-

Message from Tim Fellows, now of Amblecote, but formally DK, Chawn and Alpha: Tommo: Get well soon mate. I have played with and against Tommo over the years. He was an excellent right winger/midfielder to play alongside, and a top bloke. We played together in one of the best sides the League has seen (in my time anyway!) as we won both Leagues and Cup at Chawn in the later nineties, and Tommo was a key part of that team. All the best Tommo. Tim.

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher says: Sheldon wish Matthew Thomas a quick and speedy recovery.

Saturday Review

National Christian Cup

Mixed fortune for our clubs in the National Cup. Renewal Solihull came up against stern opposition in Revive FC from Loughborough and were beaten 3-0. Solihull midfielder Tim Payne texted: They totally out-played us, possibly the best team we've faced. I got a bit confused with who was playing who. So sorry Tim and everyone else who I may have flummoxed with my early reports.

A better score line for King's AFC who managed to beat Frontline 5-4, with Martin Lees scoring two to add to goals from Tim Oruye, Nathan Smith and Dominic Richards.

Division One

St. Mary's 1 St. Matthew's 3

St. Matthew's crack on with Division One business with three points against St. Mary's. St. Matt's Martin Nicholls emailed a report: A tough game today away against St Mary's. Difficult conditions for both teams on the first frosty pitch of the season. The first half was possibly edged by St Mary's. Both sides had chances, St Matt's had a Pete Davies header cleared off the line and Nisbett uncharacteristically missed a one on one. But St Mary's had arguably the best chance when their striker un-expectedly blazed over from close range and went on to carve out a couple of chances. We went in to half time with the score somehow 0-0 as both teams missed decent chances.

The second half saw Nesbitt bang in a hat trick. The first a trade mark strong run and finish. The second a route one goal. A long kick by Duncan Wilkinson was flicked on by Nicholls and Nisbett cooly rounded the keeper to slot home. The third came when St Mary's keeper slid out to block out Nicholls and Nisbett was on hand to slot home from the angle. St Mary's pulled the game back to 2-1 when they scored a somewhat bizarre goal as an unfortunate ricochet fell to Josh Blunt's feet.

A closely fought encounter that we edged by being more clinical in front of goal.

St. Mary's Nick Sprason adds: Before I move into less important match report mode, please can you pass the thoughts of St. Mary's players & management to both Chawn Hill and Tommo for the terrible accident he was involved in last week, and also to Joe Lister of St. Thomas' for the recent loss of his mother. Both above incidents put our football bubble into perspective.

Fresh from our recent defeat to our local rivals, the big game left me with an over riding thought 'what if?' What if St Matt's had never crossed paths with Marvellous Marvin? What if St Marys had taken any of the four excellent chances whilst the score was nil-nil?

Anyway the game started scrappily on a dreadful bobbly surface which didn't allow either midfield to get a grip of the game. Uphill, St Mary's started to get a grip and created three great chances. I won't name and shame to dent confidence, however rest assured it will be mentioned at training! St Matt's looked a little surprised and struggled to create anything until Marvin Nesbitt shot wide when through on goal. St Matt's gradually got into the game and finished the half strongly with a series of corners which led to Phil Kinson clearing off the line.

The second half saw St. Marys again take control of the game and put pressure on the St. Matt's goal but much as we tried we couldn't create any chances of the quality that came and went in the first half and inevitably we paid the price. Now Marvin had had a quiet game, missing a good chance in the first half and not getting into the game for the first fifteen in the second. Out of nowhere he got played in and before we could react, a rocket shot into the top corner had put us one down. Soon after we dozed off at the back and we had the same end result with another clinical finish from Marvin. Leigh Watts (not Josh Blunt) pulled one back but a late rally was cut short as within two minutes Marvin completed his hatrick.

Anyway best wishes to St Matt's they defended well and were well organised throughout and certainly deserved to win the game as it is all about goals not overall play! I still think we are not a million miles away but today lacked a cutting edge.

Amblecote 0 Clarendon 0

Amblecote failed to beat Clarendon at the third attempt this season in what turned out to be a goalless draw. A result that played into the hands of St. Matthew's somewhat. For me, the defence of the title is over for Amblecote and at first glance, relegation seems more likely. However on closer inspection, they have played last week-end's opponents twice, St Matthew's and St Mary's away. For Clarendon, whilst they do have a twelve point deficit on the leaders, they are three games in arrears. The cruncher will come, I think, when Clarendon and St Matt's meet twice in three weeks at the start of March. Ironically games that sandwich the League Cup semi-finals. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that the two sides will meet at this stage of the competition.

Amblecote's Shawn Devonport writes: We have lost to Clarendon twice away from home already this season, being outplayed at times so we knew this one would be difficult. We knew we had a chance today playing at home on a bigger, flatter pitch which would give us the freedom to play a bit of football.

The first half was tight without any major openings with both defences being superb and a big midfield battle. Second half and Amblecote came out firing creating three clear-cut chances within five minutes but failed to convert any of them. As the game wore on, both teams created some good openings but neither of the teams could convert any of the chances and the game ended up finishing 0-0. So we had to settle for a draw but thats now three home games without conceding a goal so plenty of positives to take from an awesome defensive display.

You dont see many 0-0 draws at this level but neither team made mistakes, both teams fought hard and played some very good football, the best football match in terms of quality I've played in this league, so credit to both teams. We have it all to do now and were under no illusions its going to be hard with St Matt's continuing to win, but getting rid of Clarendon home and away, St Matt's away and the afternoon away match at Solihull, we believe if we put a run of wins together like we are definatly capable of, we will still be there or thereaboutscome the end of the season.

But no shame in holding one of the best teams in the league today and probably just deserving to win all though I'm sure Clarendon will probably think the same.

Sheldon 3 Rowley College 2

Sheldon slip into second place with a 3-2 win against Rowley College. Sheldon have now played six and conceded twelve, although seven of those were against Amblecote on the first day of the season. After my 'bottom of the table' prediction and the Amblecote drubbing, Sheldon have really turned the corner, showing what they are made of.

Manager Lyndon Fisher texted: A good first half by both teams, with Sheldon creating the better of the chances in the first half, with Rowley taking their's. In the second both teams played good football but Sheldon edged it 3-2. The game was played in the right spirit.

Rowley's manager Pete Bennett adds: Rowley’s 400th competitive match was unfortunately our 156th defeat instead of our hoped-for 186th victory (For 976, against 814). On a cold and somewhat windy morning at Saltley we succumbed to a powerful Sheldon side (belying Ed’s pre-season predictions!). I missed the late penalty that decided it (I had my young son with me and he’d had enough cold by 75 minutes) but my lads were very unhappy about it (thinking it a) harsh and b) outside the box). By that point we might easily have both clearly won and clearly lost it (and thought we’d done enough for a draw against a good side).

I had a capable team out today and they were severely tested first half as Sheldon came at us down the hill with the wind behind them. Southall was filling in at centre half to counter this threat and missed very little in the air but Sheldon were always dangerous and their front lads only lacked a cool finish which meant a series of missed chances. We on the other hand found it difficult to get going, though Craig Micklewright is always a threat. Then, against the run of play, we scored. Good work by Alan Micklewright led to Hunter firing a shot which was parried out to Warr to score. From this point on it was a better game. Hunter had a fine shot saved and they were variously close. They equalised when Mark Turton unluckily put through his own goal and then just before half time Hunter was impeded by their keeper and dispatched the penalty himself. 2-1 against the hill/wind and the run of play ought to have been enough but Sheldon are made of sterner stuff.

The first ten minutes of the second half went our way down the hill, then we conceded a scrappy goal from a corner and again the game was open. To be fair Sheldon changed their tactics up the hill and played to feet and looked a very good side. There were chances at both ends: our keeper made one very good save and we hit the bar. I made a couple of changes that didn’t really work and then came the late penalty. A big game for us and a hard one to lose.

Dynamo Kingswinford 1 City Church 1

Just a point each in this game, which leaves City still without a win so far this year and languishing in bottom spot. Martin Ogbourn texted: An even game, played on an uneven pitch, but in a good atmosphere between the teams. A draw was a fair result.

Division Two

Halesowen Zion 2 Brierley Hill 1

Halesowen scrape a win to maintain their lead at the top of Division Two against a plucky Brierley Hill side. Halesowen secretary Dave Walters reports: A hard fought victory after going down 1-0 after ten minutes. It took until the last fifteen for us to draw level and a late winner from Chris Bennett to take the points. Brierley Hill were stubborn in defence but had little to offer going forward, with most of the second period played in their half. A combination of good defending and goalkeeping by Brierley Hill and poor finishing by us made for a close game.

Halesowen's Grant Doran adds: I will keep it short and sweet. Zion win a hard fought game with two goals in the last fifteen minutes. Another poor display from Halesowen but at least we carried on battling and gained another three points. Today's match is best summed up as poor pitch, poor weather, poor game, good result.

Brierley Hill's Ian Baker adds a brief comment to his text to report the result: I felt that their winner was offside. Please send me the number for the Samaritans.

St. Thomas' Aldridge 5 E K Corinthia 3

Second placed St. Thomas' are pushed hard by a resilient E K side and are made to work for the points that keep them in second. Chris Morrison who scored his ninth of the season texted. Gutted. Did really well. They knew they'd had a game today!

Walsall Olympic 1 Selly Oak Methodist 2

Walsall put up a much better show at their place after getting slaughtered away at Selly Oak last week. Walsall's Mark Webb says: A quick chance of revenge following last week's 8-1 mess at Selly Oak and certainly a point to prove. A brave performance headed up by Walsall's man of the match Ben Virgo who left the pitch four times for treatment for injuries he picked up for the Walsall cause. The third time for light concussion following an accidental kick on the nose. Ben finally left the pitch unconcious having put his body on the line. Plenty of effort, great team spirit. Didn't feel like a loss, more like a step in the right direction.

St. Boniface 0 Zion Athletic 1

Zion Athletic grind out a one-niller to cling onto fourth spot against a St. Boniface side slumped in a 'we can go better than this' tenth. Jallen texted: We had a man sent off after ten minutes or so and we outplayed them 'til fifteen to go when it was backs to the wall.

James Hamilton adds: This was our most satisfying result this season. Having played with 10 men for 80 minutes after our key central midfielder was sent off. We were hanging on at the end after St. Boniface threw everything at us. I'm so proud of our lads who put in the kind of effort we have being working on this season. St B's will be disappointed to come away with nothing, but we are are delighted. Just a note to say how well the game was reffed today by newly qualified Jon Nott. I suppose I would say that after he gave us a penalty.

Wolverhampton and Perton 6 Sandwell United 1

As the scoreline probably suggests, this was a match Wolves were always destined to win. However, on a frosty morning, on a bobbling pitch Sandwell made it a competitive game and deserve that recognition.

I can probably give you a pretty detailed description of the first period (as I was a half time substitute), but I'm not going to because it wasn't brilliant. Steve McGarry gave us the lead after half an hour or so of huffing and puffing and was unlucky not to add to his tally with a number of smart runs. Iain Wright scuffed in a second having broken clear on the left, but not even that could mask the fact we were poor in the first half. Sandwell should have scored themselves having failed to take a couple of chances and it was frustrating to see us not sticking to our passing style of play.

Tom Johnson, Jason Palmer & myself all entered the game early in the second half and TJ was quickly on the scoresheet with a smart flick from a near post corner. He later raced through to calmly stroke the ball in for the last goal and certainly added something to the performance. I myself even managed to find the net from (wait for it) outside the box which was pleasing having missed a couple of chances previously. Adam French also got in on the act, curling in a beauty of a free kick which was just reward for the midfielder who was easily the best player on the pitch.

For all Sandwell's endeavour we really shouldn't have conceded in the second half and it was disappointing not to get that clean sheet. I didn't get a good look at their goal but it looked like a player following in after the ball had ran loose in the box. But credit to them, they kept going and deserved some reward.

I really hope Sandwell continue to develop. They're a young team and will only improve over time. It can't be easy getting smacked for 6s and 7s every week and I admire their perseverance. They remind me of myself in my first season in the WMCFL four years ago. My first game, I came on as a late sub and the only time I got the ball I was put on my derriere by one Jadon Silva - I've never forgotton that!

Week off next Saturday, meaning I can stay in my underwear until midday and eat my coco-pops. Wrap up warm boys!

Matthew Thomas - Latest - It's just one leg he's broken, but his knee is so badly smashed that he's been kept in hospital in Kettering near to where the accident happened.

Jason Nall from Solihull says - Please convey our support for Matthew Thomas of Chawn Hill. A good quality player. We all at Renewal Solihull wish him a speedy recovery. We pray that we will be playing against you soon.

Steve Harper from EK says: Just an email to say everyone from EK Corinthia and Kingstanding Elim church will have Matt in our prayers, we pray that he has a speedy recovery and that both he and his family are ok.

18 November 2007

I am a bit early this week-end, but I collate the reports when time allows. People send in their views as the week-end progresses, so I will add any that arrive. If you've never sent in a report, feel free to add your thoughts. We rely on eye-witness accounts in this League.

WMCFL League Cup - Match Day 4 - Group Phase

One down side to a group style competition is that towards the end sometimes there's very little to play for. It's been known for the top two to be through and to just be playing for who wins. I'm pleased to say that going into the last day, match day five on 8 December, we have sixteen clubs battling for the last eight places. A little ironic that there are sixteen, as that'd be the number we'd have in if we'd voted in a knock-out tournament. With just one club, St. Matthew's through to the quarters, December the 8th should be an all-action day.

Hats off to St. Matthew's. They have dominated WMCFL so far this season. Eight points clear in Division One and the only club to qualify so far in the Cup tells a story.

Group A

I've done my calculations and I reckon that there are five teams left in with a chance of progressing. Whilst Selly Oak top the group going into the last week of the group phase, I believe that they will probably go out unless they beat Wolves and Perton.

Then there are three teams on seven points. St. Boniface top this gaggle but not by much. They take on Walsall in Walsall on the last day and an eight-one defeat, like Selly Oak got today, would probably see them into the next round. But Walsall play at Anchor Meadow and it's going to be December. Wolves lie in third and a win at Selly Oak will qualify them.

On paper, Renewal Solihull have the easiest tie but the largest goal-difference to make up as they visit E K. But this is parks' football.

As you go further down the group, the more you rely on others' results and whilst it looks like Walsall are pretty much out, they can still do it. It's a long shot though; here's how: If EK beat Solihull three-nil and Selly Oak beat Wolves three-nil and Walsall beat St. Boniface three-nil; it'll be Selly Oak and Walsall through. If any one wants to place a bet on that sequence, just let me know.

Selly Oak Methodist 8 Walsall Olympic 1

Selly Oak bounce back from last week's heavy defeat, handing out a heavy defeat of their own. It was one-way traffic as they knocked eight past Walsall. After last week's romp against EK which was on the back of defeats over St. Boniface and Brierley Hill, I was expecting Walsall to give Selly Oak a major test. But it wasn't to be. Walsall now need a miracle, whereas Selly Oak need a win.

After our second defeat of the season against Renewal last week (We just didn’t seem to turn up) we faced a Walsall team for the first time this season knowing we needed a win to stay in contention for a Quarter Final Place. What a complete turn around from last week it proved to be as we pretty much dominated this game.

It did take a while to start off with as both teams tried to get settled into the cold afternoon conditions on a pitch fresh from Boniface’s morning kick off. However, when Joel Richards pounced to slot in the first we didn’t look back. We looked solid all over the park. New signing, Dean O’Leary, (who co-founded the team and has returned from a year in Australia) broke down the right hand side and was tripped just inside the area to gain a penalty and duly slotted it away for a 2-0 advantage. The third came from a bullet header from Laurence Belgrave and Selly Oak found themselves with a comfortable advantage in the first half. It stayed 3-0 until the half time whilst blew.

The second half saw Selly Oak resume their dominance. Despite the 8-1 final score line it could have been a lot more if Walsall’s keeper hadn’t pulled off quite a few fine saves. One memorable one was from a volley heading for the top corner which he managed to get a hand to. Laurence Belgrave, moving the quickest I’ve seen all season, slotted in another and with Jamie Williams, Rhyan Anderson and Michael Knowles all adding to the tally completed to the rout. However Walsall did get a late goal from their No.10 who had worked hard all game and gave his team a late consolation.

I don’t for one moment think this was Walsall’s best effort as they managed to draw with the team who beat us 6-2 last week. However, we were dominant this week and a similar performance against Wolves in our last group game should see us gain the three points needed to progress to the knock out stage for the first time in our history. Next week sees us travel away again to play the Walsall boys in the League and I think we would be naïve to expect a similar result. However, we're undefeated away and a win would see us continue our promotion push. I’d also like to mention a good performance from John Nott who was our ref today. (Jon passed his ref's exam this week along with Mel Lewis and another gent who I haven't established the name of yet. Four new refs! - Ed). Well done Jon.

Renewal Solihull 3 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1

Renewal usually come good at this stage of proceedings and a three-one win against Wolves is no mean feat in itself. Three familiar names on target for Solihull: Tony Tuiyott (I bet it was a header), Scott Murrell (not missing out this year) and Joe Clarke completed the win. Andrew Page with the goal for W&P.

Tom Baugh writes: I didn't play yesterday (hence the defeat - only jokin') so can't really offer much of an opinion on the match.

Wolves ensure their qualification into the knockout stages goes right down to the wire with a defeat at Solihull. As I didn't participate this weekend, the only snippets of information I can offer are an amalgamation of numerous text messages.

Andy Page got the Wolves goal and commented that Solihull wrapped the game up late on with the decisive third, as Wolves pressed for an equaliser at two one down. I'm sure someone from Solihull can enlighten you further on their goals and the game as a whole.

We were more or less qualified last week from a commanding position against St. Bonfiace and if we don't progress, it will be that result that comes back to haunt us, not this one. Regardless, I remain confident that we can get a result at Selly Oak despite their upturn in form.

Little bit of trivia for you, the last time we got to the final we beat everyone along the way including Solihull, who eventually took us apart in the final. A role reversal will do just nicely thank you!

St. Boniface 7 E K Corinthia 2

Today was one of those rare days when a WMCFL match was not covered by a referee. Chris Morrison bravely stood into the breach and watched his side slide to another defeat. The win was just the tonic for the Bees, who sit in second but will almost certainly need a big win in their last game.

Group B

Slightly less complex than Group A, Group B has two teams mathematically out of the running. Both Bilston and Brierley Hill failed to score today, but will take some succour from the results and performances.

Halesowen have left themselves an improbable task of qualifying for their second final in three years as they collapse at the hands of the Cup holders. Halesowen must now beat Rowley away, by a significant margin and hope that DK lose to Brierley Hill and St. Mary's lose to Bilston. In reality, I can't see anyone else but Rowley and St. Mary's progressing. St. Mary's should manage to beat Bilston and even if Rowley lose to Halesowen, Dynamo will have to make up an eight goal difference at Brierley Hill. Despite their lowly position in the League, Brierley Hill are run by Ian Baker, an accountant. They don't give much away.

So I think Rowley and St. Mary's but here's the carrott: The runners up in the group will play St. Matthew's away, the winners will play either Sheldon or St. Thomas' at home. Take your pick. But just to remind you: Sheldon beat St. Matthew's.

St. Mary's 8 Halesowen Zion 1

St. Mary's catch Halesowen on an off day and make them pay. Halesowen's Grant Doran emailed: Full credit must go to St Mary's as they totally deserved their win. They were first to every ball and showed more creation and effort throughout the team than their Zion counterparts. Although Zion were without seven first team players, we still had a good enough team to at least compete today and we didn't. Halesowen Zion players must have a real look at themselves as today's performance was not acceptable and was a total embarassment. St Mary's deserved their win and could easily have made it double figures. Sorry if the report is miserable but facts are facts.

Dave Walters is equally down cast: You can tell its winter: no leaves on the trees, frosty mornings, dark nights and half of Halesowen's squad won't get out of bed. A poor turn out for us today, even I had to step in and stand between the posts watching Saints crack in eight past me in a very one sided match.Well done to our lads that turned up and worked hard all game and to St. Mary's who played some nice football. We have now lost two in a row, but back to League Two next week and here's hoping we can get back to winning again.

Phil Kinson texted: Despite having a few regulars out, we gelled well and played some great football.

Bilston Beacons 0 Dynamo Kingswinford 2

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale texted: We created loads of chances in the first twenty-five minutes but only scored once. A trade-mark Aston run ended in a cool lob (own goal?). We didn't get going at all in the second half. Qualification may prove difficult now unless Israel do us a favour, sorry wrong team!

Brierley Hill 0 Rowley College 3

Full credit today to Ian, Carl and their latest collection of workaholic young lads; they gave us a real game and were very much in this match until deep into the second half. We pitched up a little disorganised (and our subs temporarily lost in transit) but this was hardly an issue since we got off to the perfect start when Stew Harvey nodded in a Jamie Hunter long throw that their defenders let bounce in their area. It should have knocked the wind out of their sails but it didn’t (in fact nothing did). The rest of the first half was a real test and we were glad to have Rob Hill at centre half to keep chances to a minimum so our makeshift keeper, Jonah, had only one difficult save to make (which he did brilliantly). This was perhaps the difference today: We managed to create real chances and they nearly did. The first half was Brierley Hill’s and we knew it.

Being able to add a newly fit Craig Micklewright at half time was massive for us since he galvanised us and prompted some terrific football from us in the second half. We had a supremely impressive Mark Turton (watch out for him) making his first start in midfield alongside Harvey and they were the engine for all we did. Brierley Hill had demanded this of us and for a long period would not succumb to what was some powerful and fluid football. Moreover they were still threatening themselves and an unfamiliar back four of Ridley, Stanton, Cook and McLaren all impressed (and had to). The key goal looked like a marginal decision from their lino (in our favour) but the build up was of undoubted quality Turton found Craig Micklewright with a perfect pass and Craig unselfishly passed past the advancing keeper to Hunter who finished (and was just onside!). Jamie then added a third with a clever flick after Ricky Mclaren had hit a low shot goalwards.

The last fifteen minutes looked likely to distort Brierley Hill’s contribution to the game since we created quite a lot and Carl made one outstanding save from Craig. However the game’s final incident was pure farce as Alan Micklewright rounded the keeper and squared almost along the line for Hunter’s hat trick. Jamie dutifully mimed scoring and then realised the ball hadn’t quite reached him, having stuck in the mud!

Group C

Chawn hill kept their iron in the fire today with an impressive win against Clarendon. If Chawn had've lost, that would have been it. A win in their last match against Amblecote is necessary for progession in combination with several other results going in their favour. For Amblecote, it's simple: Wins in their last two matches will guarantee a top two slot.

City are out, but can upset Clarendon in their last game. Again, Clarendon need a win to be sure but could survive with any result. King's are in a similar position.

Chawn Hill Church 4 Clarendon 2

Based on previous form, you would have thought that Clarendon would have coasted to victory today. But when Chawn are involved, no-one coasts. They are probably one of the best clubs at harrying and closing down opponents. The compact and bobbly pitch at South Road plays it's part in giving the visitors less time on the ball. A repeat performance is required against neighbours Amblecote, who prefer a larger flatter playing surface. Game on.

Amblecote 2 City 0

Amblecote keep their dream alive of following up their Division One Championship win with a Cup to follow it up, with a two-nil win over City Church. City's Martin Ogbourn texted: A good even game throughout. I thought City did enough to earn a share of the spoils, with both teams creating a number of chances. Jadon Silva also sent an SMS: Shawn Devonport scored a penalty two minutes after missing one. Character!

Amblecote's Simon Ashby writes: Good to get back to winning ways yesterday. I think we deserved the win, as City didnt really create a lot of chances in the second half, but am still surprised at their lowly league position as they look a very good team to me. Would be surprised if they dont shock a few big teams during the next few months.

We always feel confident playing on a good pitch at home, and although the first half ended 0-0 we definitely entered the break feeling on top. Once Shawn Devonport converted his penalty just a few minutes after missing one, we always felt the three points were in the bag and made the result safe halfway through the second half.

Group D

St. Matthew's slot their name into the quarter-final line-up as Group D winners. The runners-up will either be St. Thomas' or Sheldon. The two play each other in the final game, with the winner going through. Sheldon have superior goal-difference, so a draw will hand the second spot to them. Zion and Sandwell play out the wooden spoon match.

St. Thomas' Aldridge 5 Zion Athletic 1

Message from St. T's Rob Hill: Our sympathies and condolences go to St. Thomas' captain Joe Lister who played today in the game against Zion. Sadly Joe's Mum died last Tuesday after a long illness.

St. Matthew's 9 Sandwell United 0

At ten o'clock St. Matthew's only had eight players. We had several players out today and a couple making there first starts for us so we knew it had the potential to be a more tricky fixture than it read on paper. In the first half we took time to get ourselves going and Sandwell played progressive football and made it tough for us early on. After a few decent saves from their keeper, we took the lead when Marvin Nisbett went through one on one with the keeper. Despite his initial attempt being saved he managed to head home from the richochet. After a few missed chances, some glaring, Nicholls headed in from a Knowles free that was flicked on at the near post by Jon Roberts. Half time the score was two-nil.

Second half we managed to up our performance and as players settled in to unfamiliar positions we managed to add to our lead when Josh Williams ran on to a through ball and with poise and calmness beyond his young years, he fired left footed across the keeper to add to our lead. This was Josh's first start this season and he played very well. One for the future I have no doubts.

Marvin Nisbett added to his tally in typical fashion before Ridwaan Abdikarim cut in from the left, took aim and drove home from just outside the box. Red has been invaluable to us this season, playing in several positions and giving us quality time from the bench. He deserved his goal for a polished performance. Nathan Upton, another debutant, scored to put us further ahead with a well placed volley after cooly chesting down a cross. Nisbett and Nicholls added to their tallies and both ended the game with three goals each.

This was a good performance by our team with many first teamers out, the fringe players came in and did great. They all deserve a massive pat on the back. Our utility player James Lawrence deserves a mention for his part today. He was solid at centre half and a clean sheet to boot. Well done boys.

I would also like to credit Sandwell who played spiritedly and should improve as the season progresses.

Saturday Review

WMCFL League Cup - Match Day 3 - Group Phase

Group A

Group A was thrown wide open with both Wolves and Selly Oak dropping points yesterday. I would not like to risk even a shilling on who of the six will go through. Wolves are top at the moment but face two tricky away ties at Selly Oak and Solihull. Selly Oak are next, having won two of their three games so far but their remaining games are far from straight-forward. Walsall, Solihull and St. Boniface all wait to pounce on four points. I think E K are pretty much playing for pride in their last two fixtures. With the pressure off, they may throw a spanner in the works.

Selly Oak Methodist 2 Renewal Solihull 6

Renewal finally burst the Selly Oak bubble that has been floating merrily so far this season. Renewal have taken a liking to this competition and have a habit of leaving it late in matches, the League and Cups; just ask Zion Athletic who were, I think, five-one up in the quarter-final last season, only for Solihull to come back to five-all and win it on penalties. Maybe Renewal would be worth an outside bet.

That man Michael Knowles was on the score sheet again. That's ten this season now.

Walsall Olympic 8 E K Corinthia 0

Walsall took some severe poundings last season but stuck to the task and eventually they won a League match, although it was 18th April. I predicted at the time that they would begin to win games by the odd goal, instead of losing by the same margin. This season something seems to have clicked as they have only lost one of their last five games and that was a two-one defeat to Wolves. The win puts them in with a fighting chance of making the quarters, especially if goal-difference comes into play. EK should take heart as many of our clubs have struggled to start and then gone on to flourish.

I'm pretty sure my mate Mel Lewis refereed the game. Mel sat next to me last Thursday as we took the referees' exam. It was his first game in the middle. Walsall's Mark Webb said when I asked how he'd done: He was fine, faultless in his decision making. I wouldn't have guessed it was his first game.

EK's talisman Chris Morrison texted: I could make excuses but we were rubbish.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 4 St. Boniface 4

Group A was definately the place to be if you wanted to see goals. All three games managed eight goals. In this one the eight were shared evenly. Tom Baugh from Wolves and Simon Adams from St. Boniface reported: First in was Tom: About an hour into yesterdays match, Wolves decided they didn’t want to easily progress into the knockout stages of the Cup. Having being two nil up, three one up and four two up it won’t surprise you to learn that we’re pretty disappointed not to have won. However, the resilience that St. Boniface showed deserved some reward and a football match is played over ninety minutes, not forty-five and we quickly have to learn this lesson. Andy Page scored the only goal of the first half with a far post header which was just reward for some slick football from the home side.

Nathan Lodge stole in for another goal early in the second half and would later curl in an absolute beauty to make it 3-1. Olly Jones fired in a penalty for Wolves fourth and continued his good run of form in midfield. The fact St. Boniface got a point owes a lot to a number of different factors. Primarily, credit must go to their spirit and guile in staying in the game when a lot of teams might have thrown in the towel. However, Wolves defending at times was inept and that’s an accusation directed at the whole team and not just the back four.

I’ve written in previous weeks that we could win most games on the strength of our bench. Unfortunately, I have to believe the changes made in the second half did upset the balance of the side and heavily contributed to our downfall. I can only recall the first St. Boniface goal which was a slick counter attack finished off well by the striker. The other goals stemmed from not clearing crosses and long throw-ins but this probably doesn’t do justice to the visitors, so apologies for that.

Credit to the ref today who I thought was excellent. We’ve now got to trek over to Birmingham in search of a result not knowing whether ‘Clark Kent’ or ‘Superman’ Solihull will turn up. Although knowing our luck with them in the Cup, it will almost certainly be the latter!

And now Simon: What a game! For once, we rode our luck and got something from a game that seemed beyond us. With three minutes to go St. Boniface were dead and buried: Oliver Jones' fine fourth goal, curling in off a post leaving the keeper no chance to re-establish a two goal margin. However, St. Boniface cranked up the pressure and a previously composed Wolves defence capitulated, conceding set pieces which the away side profited from.

First Simon Adams reduced the arrears to four-three with a close header from Levi Preston’s run and cross from the left wing after a St. Boniface corner was half-cleared. Then Captain Cliff equalised at the death, again with a header when a long Levi throw was flicked on by a W&P defender and Cliffy headed over the line. In a frantic finale, substitute Paul Yeomans, who had turned the game with some fantastic wing play, hit the post with a speculative shot from distance. Then Jim Leghorn saw a half-chance from a smart turn with his back to goal drag wide of the near post. The ref then saw fit to put W&P out of their misery with a final whistle to an amazing game. St. Boniface were without Matt Adams in midfield, Rob Mapp on the wing and main goalscorers Obi and Chris Dowen. However, such is the depth of our squad, we still felt able to put out a strong team and one man’s absence is another’s opportunity.

Wolves won the toss and kicked with a strong, blustery wind behind them which caused all kinds of problems for our defence. However, we stuck to our task and rode our luck most notably on two occasions when the lively Tom Baugh found himself with just the keeper to beat and hit the bar on both occasions. (Don't worry Tom, I've seen Ronaldinho do that on youtube - Ed). Wolves took a deserved lead with a far post header at a corner with some very slack Bees marking. With probably 80% of the first half possession, W&P must have been kicking themselves at not being further ahead. St. Boniface on the other hand got into the opposition’s penalty area once, but Jim Leghorn forced a smart half-save from Richard Webster and Andrew Page comfortably cleared from in front of the line.

W&P scored early in the second half to extend their lead in a frantic half where the wind appeared to have suddenly dropped. A corner was headed out for another by Levi Preston, and this one went deeper to the far post where the little W&P left winger headed past a static defence. St. Boniface re-grouped and another corner was cleared to Dave Mapp, who in turning a defender was possibly fouled but the ref did well in allowing the advantage to be played. Levi picked up the loose ball, charged down the left wing and pulled a cross low into the area for Leghorn to control, turn and fire past the isolated keeper. Wolves regained the two-goal lead when the impressive Tom Baugh got free in the penalty area, and just as he was about to shoot, was bundled over by a clumsy challenge. The resultant penalty was duly despatched by Olly Jones (I think). However, although St Boniface looked dead and buried having battled back into the game, we were forced into two changes, first Scott Pickering being replaced then Rob Seward having a solid game at right back had to leave the field after a clash of heads left him with an ostrich egg on his forehead. We were also relieved to see Tom Baugh leave the pitch as he had proved a handful for much of the game and received our man of the match nomination. Our subs Paul Yeomans, and Craig “Daniel” O’Donnell (but without the voice) had a massive impact, St Boniface switching to a 3-5-2 formation that tore W&P apart. Yeomans grabbed a deserved goal with a wonderful free-kick from distance that sailed in the near post from a right wing position, when defence and goalkeeper were possibly expecting a cross. That gave rise to some nervy defending before Oliver Jones appeared to settle the tie. That was however, before the Phoenix that was St. Boniface rose from the ashes of their Cup dreams to keep the floodlights of the Mecca that is Halesowen Town FC glimmering in the distance.

Group B

Rowley College may find themselves slightly surprised to be top of Group B after the week-end. No offence to Dynamo but Halesowen have been in excellent form recently and I would have expected them to get something from the game. Rowley's win against St. Mary's would have been far from a foregone conclusion as well. This group seems to be wide open too, with perhaps four clubs in with a realistic shout. Fourth place Dynamo having to play the bottom two clubs in their remaining games.

Bilston 2 Brierley Hill AOG 1

Bilston's Alfie Westwood reports: After a torrid few weeks with the Beacons, on the back of a real licking from the Wolves and Perton boys our spirits were low. With today's game being a nothing Cup game (Thanks to Halesowen and Rowley turning us over) Trig gave us the instruction to go out and enjoy our selves. But deep down every Bilston player knew that the last time we played Brierley Hill, they stole two points from us. But with four to five key players out through injury and suspension, we knew there was work to do.

A box to box first fifteen minutes had both defensive lines showing gaps. Then twenty minutes in, a Brierley Hill attack breaks and the the ball drops right in the mix, legs everywhere and pops out with, what I thought was a help of a hand (Brierley Hill won't agree) and falls to big Carl who slots past a approching Dougie. One-nil down and only pride to play for...A deadly formula. Bilston realise we can win this. The defence tightened up and the midfield spread out. Deep in the Brierley half, a ball is played over from the left wing. Yellow and blue bodies dive towards it but one man birthday boy Pete Broome rises like a salmon to head us all evens. A quiet ten mins passed and still no break through for either side. Then a clever link between Mark Broome (son of Pete) and Shawn who whips a beautiful weighted ball. Up again comes the slighty receding head of Mr Pete Broome again to head Bilston into a deserved lead.

Second Half and Bilston shut shop but Brierley Hill came at us with everything but just couldn't break down the now indestructable Bilston back four made up of Marky Allsop, Aida Rogers, Marky Broome and myself Alfi. As time went on Bilston were looking to further their lead with Mike powering the ball towards goal, only for the Brierley Hill keeper to better the shot with a cracking save followed by the final whistle.

A important win for Bilston today and some real positives can be taken from the match. Just a quick note Terry (The man in black with the whistle) was fantastic and dealt with everything in a professional manner, a great ref.

P.S. I hope its Pete Broomes birthday next week scrap that, EVERY WEEK.

Dek Dudfield adds by text: Bilston 2 Brierley Hill 1, both goals by Pete Broome who is 54 today. There's hope for me at 44!

Dynamo Kingswinford 2 Halesowen Zion 0

Halesowen's Grant Doran reports by email: A slightly changed Zion team struggled to settle on a slopped pitch with a strong wind. Dynamo came out the blocks well and soon got the pressure mounting on the Zion defence. Our new centre back pairing of Paul Debney and Ben Doran struggled to contain the DK frontline. After a nice flowing attack down the wing and good cross found an unmarked Gouldy (splitter) (I hope that means he used to play for us-Ed) six yards out, to calmly head home. Zion rallied and created a few chances of our own without really opening up DK. The half continued in the same manner with Zion having to do most of the defending, although DK never really created any more clear cut chances.

The second half was a reversal as DK dropped off and defended against the Zion attack aswell as the wind and slope. Although Zion created four or five good scoring opportunities they failed to find the net for the first time this season. Credit must go to DK's keeper and the post as between them they pulled off four great saves to deny certain goals. Despite DK defending deep the top two still posed a threat on the counter with their pace, and so it proved as DKs midfield won the ball back and fed the forward to slot the ball into the far corner from just inside the box. Congratulations must go to DK as they managed to stop us scoring and also beat us, but disappointed never the less.

Gary Lamsdale texted: A solid performance from DK against spirited opposition. Good saves from our keeper kept our goal safe despite an emergency item of attire that I cannot possibly gives details on. There are best part of a thousand hits on this site each day over the week-end and someone's bound to take offence. You got off lightly son. David Beckham eat your heart out.

Rowley College 4 St. Mary's 2

A decent game dictated but not ruined by a strongish wind blowing right down the pitch, was freakishly decided in the second half in our favour by a hat trick of own goals by the St. Mary’s keeper. I think both sides played pretty well. We had new boy Russell Burdon starting (Ex-St Boniface) and he was a rock at the back: Warr and Harvey were on song in the middle and Hunter continues to perform marvels up front: in the second half Jamie flicked the ball over their centre half’s head and I had some sympathy for why the lad had cause to kick him!

In the first half with the wind St. Mary’s had momentum and threat. They’d already hit our bar before Josh Blunt headed them in front from a free kick. However we’d also had our moments and shortly afterwards Alan Micklewright levelled after a good turn in the box. It was then pretty even until St Mary’s scored a second after we’d failed to clear a corner. With Jackaman’s long throws and a series of dangerous corners they might have stretched their lead but at 2-1 at half time and the wind unabated, the advantage was with us.

In the second half we seized the initiative and Hunter’s throw-ins were at times unplayable and ultimately decisive. Within the space of three minutes a little into the second half we capitalised on two such throws with their keeper as the unfortunate victim in each case. With the wind still blowing hard we should have put the game to bed but with a quality side like St. Mary’s it was `touch and go’ until five minutes from time. At this point John Warr harried their defender into a hurried back pass and the luckless keeper sliced it into his own net! At this point a couple of their lads got upset at (the perhaps inevitable) cries of ‘dodgy keeper’ and if there was offence I would like to unreservedly apologise and insist there was no malice intended. For the record the St Mary’s goalkeeper is not a ‘dodgy keeper’ as we know to our cost (he was excellent when they beat us in the cup semi-final).

Group C

Clarendon look in prime position to progress from Group C having dispatched League Champions Amblecote. If King's can beat Amblecote in their last game, they will be through too. City and Chawn are up against it having only secured a point a piece from their two games. And both clubs have Clarendon and Amblecote to play. Amblecote will proceed to the quarters if they win all three of their remaining games.

Clarendon 4 Amblecote 2

Clarendon dispatch Amblecote by two goals and convincingly so for the second time in two months. Amblecote's Simon Ashby emailed: First thing is first, Clarendon look a quality outfit this year and I would say have to be favourites to push St. Matt's for the title (If we dont get our act together that is). I played them twice last year and yesterday they seemed quicker, sharper and better finishers. So well done to Roger and the team for assembling a very good side.

From our point of view, we were certainly the equal of Clarendon in the first half, and despite going in 2-1 down, we had hit the bar and post and felt going uphill we were well in the game. We always have close matches against Clarendon and this was no different.

However as so often happens at this level, when the second half came and we were going downhill we resorted to 'hoofing' the ball rather than playing the football that served us so well last year and it cost us. Unable to break the Clarendon defence down we found ourselves 4-1 down, although it has to be noted that their third goal was a goal of the season contender.

We grabbed a late consolation, but couldn't claw it back despite one or two late chances. Particularly gutting to score two goals away from home and lose, especially as I play at the back!!! Looking at the group, we need to beat City, Chawn and King's to edge the latter out now!!

King's AFC 2 Chawn Hill Church 1

Neil Kovacs texted: I wasn't at the game but feedback seems to be the same old story of missed chances.

A good result for King's, beating a Division One side and giving themselves a great opportunity to progress

Group D

Congratulations to St. Matthew's. They are our first club through to the last eight this season. Sandwell and Zion cannot catch St. Matthew's and with St. Thomas' and Sheldon playing each other, only one of them can match the nine points that St. Matt's have achieved. The winners from each group are rewarded with a home tie in the next round and with Sandwell United their last opponents, St. Matthew's will be hot favourites to take top spot. St. Thomas' have a far inferior goal difference to SHeldon and will need to knock eight past Zion Athletic to make up the difference. But should they beat both Zion and Sheldon, goal difference will be irrelevant. In reality, Sheldon will probably need just a point from the game with St. Thomas', but a victory to be sure.

Sandwell 0 St. Thomas' Aldridge 5

Sandwell's Matt Holt emailed: First Half. The weather played a big part of today's game. Sandwell Utd competed against the wind very well for forty-five minutes and were unlucky to be one-nil down at half time to a penalty. Our keeper pulled off a couple of fantastic saves as St. Thomas' Aldridge created a couple of good chances.

Second Half. Not long after half time St. Thomas' Aldridge battled against the wind to score a second goal. Over the half they adapted to the wind and went on to score another three goals with one being another penalty. Sandwell contiuned to battle on and created a couple of chances with a header cleared off the line from Shaun Roche.

Last Note. Thanks to the three officials for what I thought was a well run match.

Sheldon 1 St. Matthew's 2

Martin Nicholls emailed: This week, we put last week's result right in our eyes and came out victorious. Both sides had numerous shots, it would be fair to say the Sheldon keeper made more saves but we scored one more and won. Nisbett must have the League record for the fastest goal - within 20 seconds. A Ricky Roberts cross was struck by Nisbett whose shot was deflected but ended up in the far corner.

We doubled our lead before half time when Nicholls fired home after he was played in by Nisbett. Sheldon pressed second half but failed to score more than one. Their goal came when our defenders seemed to lose a high ball in the sun leaving their striker to finish. Game ended two-one in our favour.

Lyndon Fisher adds by text: A hard-fought game by both sides that could have gone any way. St. Matthew's took their chances in the first half and a better second period from Sheldon.

Ed - Well done to St. Matthew's who are having a great season. But Sheldon can be proud of their achievements edging St. Matthew's three-two over the two weeks. This result will not matter if they manage to beat St. Thomas' in December. I'm sure les Oranges will put up a stern resistance.

Friendly Match

City Church 6 Elim Athletic 2 or 5-1

An anonymous emailer reported the above result with the following report: City Church back in action today and with some noticeable players back from the treatment room. Louis Quaintance, playing his first game of the season, managed half an hour and Rob Stokes having recovered from his horrific collision with the post away to St. Matthew's brought a calm assurance to the backline. City looked encouraged from their display and now look ahead positively.

I have since had a report in to say it was five-one. What the two reporters agree on is that City won by four.

Ed - With Louis back, City will be a different side.

-

Apologies for the late update of this page. Both my kids have taken to playing for teams on a Sunday, so it was 10.00 followed by 12.30 for the other, limiting my time on this site. Charlie lost thirteen-nil, but George has had more luck with Halesowen Town winning seven-one scoring his tenth of the season. I'll leave you to guess which one takes after me...

Saturday Review

Birmingham County FA Saturday Junior Cup Round 2

Parklands 1 Clarendon 3

The Junior FA Cup has a little more meaning to it than the 'real thing'. At our level, teams from the many local leagues are pitted together against teams, many of which have never played each other. Whereas in the real FA and League Cups, it just feels like the same old thing repeated. Final at Wembley etc.

Over the years, WMCFL clubs have been sporadically involved in the competition. This season only Clarendon entered. One of the problems that faces us is that we are a morning kick off league and the competition is afternoons. However, the fixtures do take prescedence over our games and we set Saturdays aside should teams wish to enter.

Some of the clubs that enter the competition are, to be fair, better than anything that WMCFL could throw at them. However, we did once see one of our teams reach the semi-final.

Yesterday, Clarendon beat Parklands three-one and progressed to the quarter-final stage. I know nothing about Parklands, however many of the teams that enter are from the AFA, which is a strong league.

Oh and one last item of trivia: The Cup has been running for 120 years, with the obvious breaks for the World Wars. So it would be a great year for Clarendon to win it.

Division One

St. Matthew's 0 Sheldon 2

Just one game in Division One yesterday. Sheldon shock St. Matthew's and the rest of us with a two-nil win at the Walsall Campus. The result opens up Division One at little and breaks St. Matthew's excellent 100% run of results so far this season. It also moves Sheldon out of the bottom three and into mid-table with a game in hand over most of those above them.

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher texted: A good game of football by both sides. St. Matthew's had their chances in the first half, but failed to take them. Sheldon's defence and midfield were superb, not giving the opposition time and space. I would single out Josh Lea for special praise. St. Matthew's could not break Sheldon down and we took our chances when they arose. I would say we edged the second half.

St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls adds by email: Despite having the over whelming majority of possession St. Matt's squandered early chances to put themselves ahead and went on to curse the generosity we showed. The early exchanges were probably even but St. Matt's went in at half time drawing despite having a lot of the ball.

Sheldon had a clear game plan and that was to get numbers behind the ball and invited us to break them down. Today we couldn't and the two shots they had ended up in the net. If we are to mount a realistic title challenge we need to put this behind us and start winning again. The chances today perhaps fell to the wrong people, I can't blame the pitch, the ref, missing players or anything else. We had a few missing but had enough regulars to field a string team. Today we simply were not good enough. We will endeavor to put this right next week a their place.

Division Two

Halesowen Zion 2 St. Thomas' Aldridge 2

Predictably, the top of the table clash ended in a draw. From an independent report I got, I was told that Halesowen were the better side, but St. Thomas' took their chances when they got them. The two clubs allowed those chasing to catch up a little but their postion still looks strong.

St. Thomas' Stuart Bottomer reports: A reshuffled St.T’s team due to David Plant and Matt Brady crying off with minor colds, were lucky to get away with a two-all draw. Even more remarkable is that fact that St.T’s only managed one shot on target! On the basis of this performance neither team will stay clear of the pack for much longer.

Sandwell United 0 Selly Oak Methodist 5

Selly Oak move up to a club best third spot in Division Two with a solid five-nil win away at Sandwell. Although, Sandwell did not concede until the second half. The five goals were scored by five different players, all of whom have featured regularly this season. Some are old faces aand some are new. Michael Knowles chipped in with his ninth of the season and I believe it's his inclusion with that of Sammy Antwi that have been the key changes that have lead to Selly Oak's success. Selly Oak are predominantly a young team, showing exceptional promise who I believe will move onto greater heights in seasons to come.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill emailed: Selly Oak once again maintains their 100% away record with a 5-0 win over Sandwell United. Sandwell battled hard in the first half and made it difficult for us to create chances and when they did come we were unusually wasteful. Sandwell were without their top goal scorer Luke Hazelhurst today and although they threaded together a few nice moves in midfield they never really threatened to score either and it remained 0-0 at half time which at this point in the game was a fair result.

A stern talking to at half time and we seemed to start the second half with purpose. Winning a lot more of the possession and putting huge pressure on the Sandwell back four. The deadlock was broken when the ball fell to Peter Donalds towards the corner of the area. He swiftly placed the ball through a crowd into the opposite corner of the net. Pete doesn’t score too often but when he does they tend to be pretty nice goals. Being on the sideline I could see the effect this had on the Sandwell lads and I recognized it from our first two seasons. After battling hard for the first sixty minutes and holding us, their heads dropped and as we maintained the pressure on the back four the chances on goal became more frequent. Next to score were Laurence Belgrave and Jamie Williams, who are more than capable of catching Michael Knowles to make it a three way tussle for Selly Oak's Golden boot.

At 3-0 up the game was a foregone conclusion and this allowed a few of our back four to wander down the pitch and try their chances with some great runs produced by all four of them. However, it was our captain Rhyan Anderson who got the fourth and his second of the season. The fifth and final goal came from a nice through ball and Michael Knowles, who had been frustrated in front of goal for most the game, slotted the ball home past the keeper to close in on our all time goal scoring record for a season already!!.

Sandwell are a hugely improved side from when we both joined the League a few years ago and if they can get lucky and find a few quality players as we managed to do during the summer to bolster their squad, there is nothing to stop them moving up the table. Another thing I'd like to commend them on was their attitude during the game; it was played in a great manner for the whole 90.

We're now in the promotion places on goal difference, which is a tremendous feat for a team usually in the bottom three at this point. We still have the two Zion teams to play which will be a big test of our promotion challenge. However, where I believe on our day were more than capable of taking points from them, I just hope now having said that they don’t produce the results they gained against us last year. Two weeks in the Cup now which could see us reach the Quarter finals for the first time however 1st Division Renewal and an always improving Walsall stand in our way.

Zion Athletic 2 Brierley Hill AOG 1

Zion's James Hamilton emails: We made hard work of it today against a resilient Brierley Hill Team. In the first half we went one down to a soft penalty. With so much possession we were wondering if it was going to be another one of those days where we have a lot of the ball but again can't find the back of the net. I was in goal and only touched the ball three times in the first half. One of those times was to pick the ball out of the net. Luke Peniket pulled one back just before the break with a cool finish.

In the second half we began to play more fluent football and we took the lead again through Peniket. We were always comfortable, until the last few minutes when Brierley Hill had a flurry of corners and good chances. We manged to keep them out to hold onto the three points. Brierley Hill battled hard and I'm sure will be pleased with their performance but frustrated to lose by a single goal.

Ed - For the eagle-eyed amongst you, you may have noticed that poor old Luke Peniket has had his name spelt in about half a dozen ways so far this season, much to his annoyance and his pals amusement. It is totally the fault of Jallen and James Hamilton, God blessum, who seem to text or email his name spelt differently each of the many times they tell me he's scored. I finally got hold of Luke and got him to 'spell it out' for me. If only his name was Smith, or Smyth. Whatever.

If you notice that I have spelt you name incorrectly, please just let me know. I'll do what I can do correct the error.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 7 Bilston Beacons 0

Wolves and Perton seem to have hit their stride with another bag full of goals. They move up to fifth and W&P's Tom Baugh tells us how they did it: Wolves extended their run of consecutive wins to four after a dominant display against old rivals Bilston Beacons. This wasn’t a grudge match by any stretch of the imagination, but I’m certainly aware that the two league defeats to them last season cost us our Division One status (as much as anything else)!

In stark contrast to last week's first half, everything we put into the penalty area seemed to find its way into the net. It was six-nil at the interval and without sounding arrogant I don’t think the scoreline flattered us. Nathan Lodge continued his fine run of form and goals by notching two more, although I think he’d be the first to admit they won’t rank amongst his best. Steve McGarry found the net with a tidy front-post finish and Tom Johnston stole in to force the ball over the line via the goalkeeper and the post. Olly Jones was once again instrumental, opening the scoring with a well struck penalty and belting a fierce low drive into the net to complete the scoring in the second half. Although, his finest achievement was in putting a cross over that not even I could fail to convert.

All in all, this was a strong Wolves and Perton performance and we’ll head into next week's encounter with St. Boniface confident we can get the right result. As a side note, I was disappointed to see a lot of the familiar Bilston players had moved on. It seems relegation has cost them a few of their best players which is a real shame. They’re a good bunch of lads so I wish them well.

A special mention also for Dek Dudfield, who did what every good clubman has to do at least once his career and stand between the sticks with shots flying in from every direction. It’s people like him that keep this great League going!

King's AFC 2 E K Corinthia 3

Whilst this was a bit of a shock result, for me, if this had been in the first few weeks of the season I wouldn't have batted an eye-lid. E K looked good pre-season, but I suppose pre-season is one thing and the rough and tumble of competitive football is another. Chris Morrison, no doubt riding on the crest of a wave from scoring a hat-trick reports: This game was won within the first twenty minutes, as EK came out of the blocks al lguns blazing, with a new formation that King's couldn't grasp or understand (and will not be revealed)(please tell Rafa - Ed) And through high tempo football, EK found them selves two-nil up at half time with Chris Morrison scoring both. A position which was unheard of in their first season.

The second half EK again started the quicker and went three-nil up with a Drogbalike 20-25 yarder from Chris Morrison to complete the hatrick. Mike Green was a constant nuisance to King's throughout the game and was a deserved man-of-the-match for EK! To be fair to King's, they never gave up and pulled two back with three minutes to go. That minutes seemed like three hours but EK held their nerve to take a deserved three points! Well done to all the lads at EK for not dropping their heads over the past month or so. Maybe we can turn a corner now and compete like we know we can.

St. Boniface 2 Walsall Olympic 3

St. Boniface's Simon Adams writes: Gutted. We weren't robbed, we just chose a game we should have been capable of winning to put in our worst performance of the season. Some established players were missing but we still had a good XI out. Paul Jones and Jim Gray played despite being declared unfit earlier in the week.

We started very slowly for the first hour in this game, and when the opening goal came, it wasn't against the run of play, it was just that neither side looked like scoring. Matt Adams played a great through ball that Jim Leghorn, playing in a front three, latched onto and lofted past the rooted keeper. Walsall didn't give up and got a goal back, albeit a little fortunate, when a corner from their left wing drifted inside Jim Gray's near post. In fairness, we should have cleared it. Then Walsall took the lead. St Boniface passed up about three chances to clear the ball and a pot shot from outside the area squeezed under Jim Gray's body. St Boniface galvanised themselves and put Walsall under a bit of pressure prior to the break but without creating any clear cut chances.

From the restart, it was pretty much one-way traffic. St Boniface had two goals disallowed, one for an infringement on the diminuitive keeper caught in a crowd of bodies from both sides, then I had a header disallowed for offside when I thought the ball had been headed by a Walsall Defender. However, we made an attacking substitution bringing on winger James Ayers for the more defensive Rob Seward and equalised immediately. A free kick was met by the head of Simon Adams, the keeper parried, the ball hit my foot and went in. Hey, they all count! Walsall took the lead again with a long shot hit with power from distance following a corner, passing through two defenders and into the Saints' net.

We threw everything at Walsall, and got our reward with the last kick of the game when the left midfielder handled in the box. With regular penalty takers Obi and Yeomans absent, and Jim Leghorn substituted, I stepped forward but the keeper pulled off a good save to his left and Mr Ward immediately blew for time. We nearly poached a deserved point, but are more gutted with our general overall poor performance.

Walsall's Mark Webb commented in an email to me: I remember you saying that our one goal losses would eventually turn into one goal wins and you were right. Thanks for your optimism!

Saturday Review

National Christian Cup

Molesey Community Church 5 St. Boniface 3

Goals from Mark Hughes and Ogochukwu Obiakor could not stop St. Boniface falling at the first fence to Molesey Community Church FC in the National Christian Cup. I've done a little bit of research on Molesey and they appear to a big, established organisation. The club seems to have five teams. A first and second team that play in the Southern Area Christian Football League; the only Christian Football League that has been going longer than ours. It's based in South London. And that by just one season! The third and youth teams seem only to play friendlies, but there is a veterans' team that compete in the SACFL Veterans' League, with only five clubs in it mind.

I get off the subject, sorry. My point is that St. Boniface, despite losing, did the WMCFL proud yesterday. By the way, SACFL has three divisions too, although only twenty-five clubs.

Division One

St. Mary's 4 Chawn Hill Church 2

St. Mary's ease themselves into third spot with a convincing win at home to Chawn Hill Church. St. Mary's have lost just one game in the League this season and that was a very tight three-two loss to St. Matthew's. St. Mary's secretary Phil Kinson texted: A very rare John Wynn goal topped off a good performance today. We were strong in all departments and were hungry for the win.

Division Two

Zion Athletic 0 Halesowen Zion 2

Halesowen win a close battle of the Zions and look in great form to reclaim their First Division berth at almost one-third distance in the Division Two title race. Halesowen secretary Dave Walters reports: A typical hard fought derby and our third clean sheet in a row. The first half only separated when Tom Doran took advantage of a defensive mix up to cross the ball for a simple tap in for Cocky. Our keeper Mark Hutchinson (who flys to Australia tomorrow for the rest of the season) made a couple of good saves to see us through to half time.

Athletic came out strong in the second half, without actually creating a chance. This was due to a good performane from our back four, with just one effort from Luke Pennikitt which went just wide. As the half went on we came more into the game with Chris Bennett controlling the midfield for us and suppling the pass to Tom Doran who flicked on for his brother Ben to convert for our second. We never looked like giving our lead away after that despite some spirited play from Athletic.

John Williams adds: A hard fought match on a difficult surface saw us take the points in our first encounter with Athletic this season.

The first half saw us kicking down the slope. It was never going to be a pretty game, due to the state of the Windsor pitch which is Athletic's new home. The first goal was a scrappy but well earned effort. Tom Doran nipped in to take advantage of a mix up between Athletic's keeper and his left back, squaring for Cocky to slide home perhaps the easiest goal he'll get this season. We then had our most convincing spell of the game where we created plenty of chances but just couldn't find the net. Perhaps the closest chance was Tom Doran's overhead kick which flew just past the right goalpost.

The second half came and it was time to kick up the slope. (I did think that crampons and ropes might have been better than studs). We were under pressure for much of the second half, kicking into the wind, but Athletic lacked the cutting edge to really threaten Mark Hutchinson's goal. (Mark is off to Australia tomorrow until April, and will be difficult to replace). Our second goal came when Ben Doran broke through the defence, on the counter attack and smashed in a great goal to finish Athletic off.

Another three points, another clean sheet but still too many mistakes. It will be nice to be on a relatively flat pitch next week at home, where we will need to be at our best to take points off St Thomas.

St. Thomas' Aldridge 3 King's AFC 1

Two goals from Mark Hadden and a third from Matt Brady seal a crucial win for St. Thomas' in the promotion push. The division appears to have split into three at this point with St. Thomas' and Halesowen five points clear. They play each other next week-end in what surely must be billed as Match of the Day. King's, Zion Athletic, W&P and Selly Oak make up the mid four, vying for third place. Incidentally, they all take on teams in the bottom half of the table and at home next week. The one exception is St. Boniface, who despite sitting in ninth have only played four matches. If they had won these games, they could be as high as third.

St. Thomas' Joe Lister emailed: King's took the lead after about twenty-five minutes with their first attack of the game, totally against the run of play. An excellent goal and move, picked up on about the half way line by one of their midfielders who burst through the centre of the pitch and passed out wide to the left and a first time strike through our keeper's legs.

The game was very close during the first half with strong challenges going in from both sides, unfortunately not all being timed to perfection but I don't think the four bookings was judgement of the game as it wasn't dirty, just very competitive.

In the second half Mark Hadden ran onto a flick by Matt Brady and ran through in between two of the King's defenders who both took player and ball just inside the box. Mark got up to slot home the awarded penalty. Once we had eqalised the game only had one winner. Shortly after, another through ball was collected and put away by Mark just inside the box. The third came from a Nick Jones corner which was flicked in by Matt Brady despite the efforts of a King's player trying to clear off the line the official linesman gave it. 3-1 overall a fair result in a hard physical game.

Selly Oak Methodist 3 Bilston Beacons 2

Goals from Nathaniel Regisford, Michael Knowles and Jamie Williams rescue the points for Selly Oak. Bilston had taken an early lead and soon added to it, before Selly Oak scored three to give them a lofty fourth place.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill reports: Our superb run of form continues as we beat Bilston three-two. We started brightly and looked to set the early pace on a zippy and very slippy Raddlebarn Road pitch. Once again however it was our opponents that went into the lead as a defensive clearance fell to the feet of their forward who chipped it over our keeper into the net. This was quickly followed when we softly conceded another within the next ten minutes and Bilston looked as if they were set for a goal fest as we were 2-0 down within the first twenty. We knew a win today was vital to close the gap on the top and shouts from the sidelines from our coach reminded the players either top four or maybe slip back into mid table. This had the desired effect as Selly Oak seemed to find a foothold in the match and we started to use the pace of the pitch to our advantage as Jamie Williams broke down the left to slide a great cross into the box which was met by Nathaniel Regisford who slotted it into the net for his second in two. Not long after Michael Knowles brought us level with his eighth in nine matches (he’s not far of our all time scoring record of thirteen already). This is how the scored remained until half time.

The second half was a great battle between both teams neither really dominating but both playing some nice football but I felt our fitness levels were slightly higher than the Bilston boys. As the minutes ticked by our pace in the midfield and upfront meant we seemed to be making it first to most of the 50-50 balls and this paid off late on when the ball seemed to be heading to their goalkeeper along the floor however Jamie Williams flew into the box and managed to take it round the keeper with some quick footwork and tap it into an empty net to snatch the three points and put us joint third on points. Bilston could have levelled late on however but Josh Wright made a superb save to deny Bilston.

We battled hard today and felt we deserved the three points all said and done although as I mentioned last week Bilston didn’t surrender them easily. The game was played in great spirits and I wish the Bilston lads well until we head to meet them away later in the year! We meet Sandwell United next, last time they were in the League we finished one place above them at the foot of the table this time with Halesowen and St. Thomas playing each other were hoping to beat them to close the gap on second place before returning to Cup action.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 6 E K Corinthia 2

Wolves' Tom Baugh writes: Another week and another home win for Wolves as they look to close the gap on the small clutch of teams pulling away at the top. It was a match that allowed us to take full advantage of our ever growing substitutes bench and it was pleasing to see all of the players that came on having a positive impact on the game.

We were two-zip up at half time thanks to an own goal, a sharp finish from Nathan Lodge and a record breaking number of misses from yours truly. Credit also has to go to the EK goalie who made some fine saves and is certainly one of the ‘characters’ of the League. (Agreed - Ed).

Wolves changed their shape at half time and were made to pay for a slack start to the second period when EK pulled a goal back through Chris Morrison. The same player would later find the target again to cap an impressive all round performance. However, it was the power of the Wolves' squad that won the day with some impressive cameos. James Tomlinson quickly raced away to score on his comeback from suspension and push his case for a place in the starting line up. He was also instrumental in setting up Ashley Smith as his shot squirmed away from the keeper, allowing his strike partner to net from close range.

Nathan Lodge smashed in the best goal of the game from the edge of the box and was once again the pick of the Wolves players. There was even time for Iain Wright to convert a volley with the last kick of the game after a fantastic cross from James Tomlinson on the left.

We’ve managed to get the three home wins we thought we were capable of getting and need to carry on the momentum if we want to get back into the promotion shake up.

Walsall Olympic 7 Brierley Hill AOG 0

Walsall take full advantage of a below-par Brierley Hill to seal their biggest win since re-entering WMCFL. Walsall will be pleased with the win. It moves them up to eighth in the table and squares of their goal-difference as zero, having scored and conceded twenty goals in their seven matches.

New Clubs and friendlies

We have already had two very firm enquiries from clubs wanting to enter the League. They are Elim Athletic and a team from Champions Church in Netherton. Elim are from Selly Oak and plan to be run by Tracey and Jon Earp who ran Selly Oak Methodist for a while. Champions will be run by Shawn Devonport, currently with Amblecote and formerly Brierley Hill.

A few week-ends back Elim took on Chawn Hill and lost about seven-nil. Yesterday, Champions played a Sheldon XI and won eight-two. Sheldon were short of a number of players, including their keeper and Nathan Atkins, so were considerably weakened.

Both teams are eager to get as much experience as possible before applying to enter the competition next season and are keen to arrange friendlies. However, at this point to my knowledge, neither have pitches sorted.

If you want to enter a club next year, now is the time to begin getting plans together.

Saturday Review

Group A

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 2 Walsall Olympic 1

Wolves' Tom Baugh writes: Wolves gain a very useful three points in the Cup against a tenacious and much improved Walsall outfit. Having played the same side last season, it’s great for the League to see they’ve really developed.

In terms of the game, it was the visitors who took the lead early on, when a low corner was turned in by their diminutive forward, after some slack Wolves marking. We were level soon after though, when Nathan Lodge raced through and bravely out-jumped the goalie to force the ball into the net. Nath is one of a few new W&P players this season, and a really useful acquisition playing wide on the right.

The remainder of the half was really about Wolves making chances and not taking them. I myself hit the inside of the post and a number of headers from set pieces nearly found the mark.

At half time we were all confident that the win would come if we continued in the same manner. However, credit must go to Walsall for really tightening up in the second period and making us work for every inch of space. When the winner did come, it was that man John Morris again (I told you to remember his name) (I'm desperate to make a TV reference - Ed) with a precision finish from the edge of the box that hit the inside of the post before nestling in the onion bag.

The remainder of the game was played out with Wolves enjoying much of the possession but Walsall remaining a threat at only one goal down.

I know none of us will be taking Walsall for granted when we play them in the League, and I’d advise other teams to employ the same mindset. However, Wolves got the win and on the balance of play I’d say we deserved the points.

On a personal note, I for one would love to get to another Cup Final and have the chance to put some of those demons to rest from the final when Solihull stuffed us in a couple of years back!

E K Corinthia 1 Selly Oak Methodist 4

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill writes: Selly Oak managed to maintain their unbeaten away form with a 4-1 win at the Pavilion.

With a slightly changed team to give Samuel “Toure” Antwi a match in midfield (He’s one of Ed’s ones to watch for us this season and in eight matches has managed at least eleven successful overhead kicks, he has made a huge difference so far this season).

The first half and indeed most the match was a lot more even this time. However both teams failed to string together much possession. EK once again scored the first goal of the match with a defensive lapse (Yes it was my fault). A through ball found their striker Mike Green free in the box to slot past our keeper. Once again this seemed to serve as a wakeup call. We were forced into an early substitution through injury but settled into a slightly more familiar formation. Not long after, Nathaniel Regisford opened his account for the season with a determined run and a nicely placed shot into the bottom corner. Unfortunately we failed to use the momentum gained and the game slipped into a bit of a scrappy match; it remained 1-1 until half time.

We knew we needed an early goal in the second half to gain control of the match. Laurence Belgrave, who I liken to Luis Garcia (which he’ll hate because he’s an Arsenal Fan) not because of build or style of play but because he almost seems to pick his moments to score put us into the lead, gave us the boost we sorely needed. After this point we seemed to change gear and managed to take control of the game with some great through balls and wide play. The third came not too long after Loz’s goal when Jamie Williams broke into the box and was tripped in the area. This time there was no chance of a penalty, however Michael Knowles sped into the six yard box to slide the ball into the net past a last ditch attempt from an EK defender. I felt this may have effectively ended the match, that’s not to say EK didn’t battle to the end however I think it gave us the confidence to go on and “put the game to bed”. This showed when Michael Knowles got his second of the match and his 7th of the season.

We could have scored more with Michael hitting the crossbar late on but the score remained 4-1. This is a great start to the Cup for us and we’re now in a good position going into the break. EK once again worked hard in this match and showed a great spirit. I’d like to mention their goalkeeper who despite conceding four today manages to pull off some fantastic saves. (I thought he was good too in the matches I refereed for them).

Next week is back to business in the League with the top four all playing each other. A win may see us gain valuable ground back on the promotion pack, however Bilston I'm sure will not surrender those points easily to us.

Renewal Solihull 2 St. Boniface 5

Solihull's Brian Follows emailed: Renewal's Cup of woe continues as we let a 2-0 half time lead slip to a rejuvenated St. Boniface side after three half-time substitutions.

Ed - Wolves and Selly Oak sit at the top of Group A, on six points each and take the early running. St. Boniface are far from out of it having won one and lost one. Renewal, Walsall and EK have some catching up to do having scored just two points between the three of them but with five games to play, the group is far from over.

Group B

Bilston Beacons 1 Rowley College 4

Rowley's Pete Bennett writes: Credit to Bilston today who came back strongly from a heavy defeat last week to ask us some questions. Certainly the balance of possession was even in both halves and Bilston got forward and put our back lads under pressure. What we had was a little more cutting edge and, in places, mobility. I tried to experiment with the formation today and have a look at a couple of recent signings and this disrupted us a little but Bilston kept at us right till the end.

Their bombardment of our goal started immediately and we too, were making inroads before Jamie Hunter opened the scoring with a rasping drive from the angle. When he added a headed second shortly afterwards it seemed we might cut loose but Bilston kept working and only a single Craig Micklewright goal (a fine right foot finish) was added before half time.

3-0 up, the second half lacked some momentum and my changes didn’t help continuity, though we were roused when debutant Dean Ridley conceded a penalty. Alun Inett saved the spot kick but could only parry out for the kicker to score. Bilston then had a one-on-one chance to really close the gap, before conceding a penalty themselves which Hunter joyfully dispatched. We were partly helped through by energetic performances from Rob Hill and Michael ‘Jonah’ Jones at the back.

Dynamo Kingswinford 1 St. Mary's 5

St. Mary's Nick Sprason writes: Following the huge disappointment of the defeat (our first in twelve) to St. Matt's a couple of weeks ago, when we felt we were worth a least a point, it was a relief to put a resillient Brierley Hill to the sword last weekend. We knew that a trip to DK would represent a tough challenge today. We started brightly and within twenty minutes we were two up, both goals from Jon Bignell headers. DK came back into the game strongly and started to dominate midfield with the extra man.

The pressure finally told when Dave Abel followed up from close range on the around the thirty-five minute mark. DK continued to exert some pressure and half time seemed to come at just the wrong time for them.

The second half started with no real flow and the game became sloppy. A turning point came when an onrushing forward went down in the box under a weak challenge from Jon Myatt, the assitant pointed to the spot, however the referee in a better position suggested otherwise (and rightly so, in my opinion), however I can understand DK's frustration.

With both St. Mary's strikers leaving the pitch due to knocks we switched to 4-5-1 and it was left to Josh Blunt to take centre stage. In the space of 20 minutes Josh sealed the win with a brave header and then a classy swivel and finish before being brought down when through on goal, with the 'nice' free kick being converted by myself to finish up five-one.

The scoreline wasn't a fair reflection on the game, however I am sure that DK couldn't have any real complaints over the course of the game.

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale texted: Two-one down into the second half, we thought we had a penalty but the referee over-ruled his assistant. On such decisions games are won and lost. On my patched up team, missing six players, five-one was harsh. Full credit to those who came in, you deserved better.

Half-term report would say: Too many individual mistakes cost us dearly, must improve!

St. Mary's Phil Kinson briefly adds: Our best performance all season.

Halesowen Zion 3 Brierley Hill 0

Halesowen's John Williams emails: Another three points and pleasingly another clean sheet. Not a great performance, but good enough for the day. We will have to step it up a level or two next week if we hope to take anything from the Zion derby.

Ed - Group B is also shaping up with Halesowen and St. Mary's taking up the early running. Two clubs that could easily go all the way again: They'll probably meet in the final!! Rowley College are hot on their heels with four points from two games. With both Halesowen and St. Mary's still to play. Rowley will obviously need to do well in these games if they are to progress. Dynamo wait in the wings for the top three to trip each other up as they still have to play both Bilston and Brierley Hill who have no points to show for their endeavours.

Group C

King's AFC 1 Clarendon 3

An Everton Morrison hat-trick sets Clarendon on their way in perhaps the toughest group in the competition this year. There were certainly the most ohs and ahs as the names came out of the hat. Clarendon haven't ever won this competition and perhaps fancy their chances this season.

City Church 2 Chawn Hill Church 2

Still no win for City this season as their first in the top flight is a tough one. They say that success breeds success, well I thnk that you can get used to not winning too and expect it. City's Martin Ogbourn texted: A hard fought game in which we did enough to gain all three points, particularly during the first half.

Chawn's Neil Kovacs adds: We played for seventy minutes with ten men and I played the whole ninety! Neil Hambly and myself with a combined age of eighty-five made up Chawn's left flank.

Ed - Group C has a way to go yet and is still only getting started. With the teams that finished first second and third in Division One last year along with City and King's who both pack a punch. Everyone still can get through, also City's odds will have lengthened with only one point and two matches left against Clarendon and Amblecote; both away. King's will fancy a crack at it, having last won the competition in 1982. Amblecote will also be keen having appeared to be foundering in Division One.

Group D

Sheldon 8 Sandwell United 2

Another goal-feast for Sheldon as they rattle in another eight to add to last week's seven against Zion Athletic. Before these two games, Sheldon had not won in the Cup. They stand themselves in good stead for the 'tougher' matches against St. Thomas' and St. Matthew's, if you'll forgive me for that one Jal.

Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher texted: Another solid Cup performance by Sheldon. We should have had the match wrapped up by half time. We went in three-two up. Credit to Sandwell. The second session was one-way traffic with Sheldon netting another five times.

Zion Athletic 1 St. Matthew's 3

We started well trying to play a passing direct style which is always difficult on a bumpy boobly (I think Mart meant bobbly? - Same thing? Freudian slip - Ed) surface, and took the lead when Nicholls flicked in at the near post off a Davies throw in. The game got very aggressive and some may say that the teams were fortunate to end the first half with eleven each as the ref did let a lot go. As the half went on St. Matt's doubled the lead when Nisbett broke through squaring to Nicholls who added to his his tally. Nisbett then broke through the defence a second time and finshed sublimely to give St. Matthew's a three-nil lead at half time.

The second half Zion predictably threw the kitchen sink at St. Matt's. They got a late consolation and may say they could have got something from the game as the did hit the woodwork late on but the damage was done first half.

Sometimes going in to a decent lead at half time can see teams relax a bit too much - we were certainly guilty of this. Never-the-less the game was effectively won in the first half after a good performance so no grumbles.

Saturday Review

Our League Cup started again today in earnest with nine matches played.

Group A

Renewal Solihull 5 Walsall Olympic 5

Walsall's progress continues as a club again this week-end with a highly creditable draw against Division One Solihull. Not only did they manage to draw against a team that, on their day, can mix it with the best of them, but they knocked five past them and came back to level the match from five-two down.

Solihull's Brian Follows emailed: Renewal could not finish off a tenacious Walsall side who came back from 5-2 down to share the points.

Walsall's Ashley Terradez texted: A fantastic Cup game. We never gave up hope, even at five-two down to a quality First Division side who made it to the final last season. I enjoyed defending in the game, Jon Follows was a handful - respect! Though it was somewhat 'smash and grab in the last ten minutes'.

Walsall's Mike Stanford also texted: We gave as good as we got. A couple of fortuitous goals for both teams but I definately feel like I was in a game last Saturday.

St. Boniface 1 Selly Oak Methodist 3

Another win nothced up for the Selly Oak team and another goal for Michael Knowles to add to the two scored by Jamie Williams. St. Boniface's Simon Adams emailed a report: Shorn of a number of first team regulars (including the captain) away on International Duty (they were at Wembley for the England game), the depth of the Saints' squad was tested today and nearly came up trumps.

We started well, and battled for every ball, creating chances and defending superbly. Selly Oak broke free once in the first half when a ball from the left was met on the six yard box by Michael Knowles who somehow hit the post when it seemed easier to score. The only other time Selly Oak threatened in the first half was when a break-through was lobbed over Jim Gray in goal and Simon Adams cleared in front of the line. St Boniface, on the contrary, created three great chances for the big Nigerian, Obi, up front. Granted, one of them he created himself, but all three were off-target and last week’s hat-trick hero was not able to add to his impressive tally before the interval.

After the break Selly Oak started better. St Boniface’s game became ragged and we were unable to find the quality of football we had played in the first half. Selly Oak took the lead with a neat back-header from Michael Knowles on about the only occasion he got away from the otherwise superb Paul Jones. Selly Oak went further ahead in controversial circumstances when I made a challenge in the area on the left winger, who to be fair didn’t appeal for a penalty (in fact none of the Selly Oak team did!), and the referee, Silvanus Ward awarded a spot kick. This penalty, converted by the player adjudged to have been “pushed,” changed the game and left us with too much to do.

We pulled a goal back with an Obi header from an Ian Smith corner, I then pulled a good close-range save out of the keeper with a diving header from a Paul Jones free-kick. Selly Oak earned a free-kick on the half-way line, which Mr Ward made them re-take because he hadn’t blown the whistle (fair enough), a flicked header, a defensive lapse, and a lofted cross found it’s way just inside the far post. Overall, I think we were unlucky to lose and were punished for our inability to take chances, particularly in the first half. I think a one-all draw would have been a fair reflection of the game but that’s football.

It is a massive improvement from earlier in the season when Selly Oak beat us more convincingly. I saw Brian Follows scouting next week’s opponents, but I’m sure he won’t learn too much, as we have a number of players returning and some of today’s missing – keeps ‘em guessing!

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill adds: A good start to the Cup from Selly Oak as we continue our unbeaten away form. With pretty much an unchanged side from the EK game we took to the field for what we knew would be an important match against St. Boniface. The first half however was about as interesting as watching paint dry to be fair, neither team really took hold of the game we had about two chances one hitting the post but the majority of the half was scrappy. St. Boniface had a few chances from their big forward Obi who considering his size is pretty nifty and on one occasion he managed to dribble the ball past most our back four before shooting wide.

The Selly Oak team walked off the pitch at half time disheartened however after a good ten minutes of the hairdryer treatment (No boots were kicked though) and we started the second half looking more like a team. St. Boniface still held us for the majority of the second half, however we started to command the middle of the park which enabled us to provide better service to Michael Knowles up front and this paid dividends as a cross into the box and a quick flicked header provided the opener.

The second came not too long after when Jamie Williams broke into the box at pace and was judged to have been pushed in a similar situation as last week. I’ve seen these decisions go either way; some may argue it was a 50/50 ball and neither player had control it. Others may say the Boniface defender made contact in the box and was unlucky to bring the player down, however as we know referees have a split second to make their decision and the penalty was given by Silvanius Ward, who I don’t think we’ve had before but he had a great game on the whole in my book.

St. Boniface, as always, continued to battle however and were rewarded for their efforts with a goal from the big forward Obi, who was their man of the match for me. This gave us another chance to show how much we’ve progressed since last season instead of maybe conceding another and collapsing in the last ten minutes, we continued to press and put the game to bed with another goal (undisputed this time) from Jamie Williams. I feel this put the game beyond Boniface and the last five minutes was nearly all Selly Oak and even I nearly opened my account in my first season as an outfielder when from five yards out my shot was deflected off a defender's leg onto the floor and over the cross bar and the score remained at 3-1.

I felt we were good for the three points on the whole however Boniface as always made us work for it. They are a great bunch of lads and I always enjoy the battle at Raddlebarn. We travel to the Pavilion again next week to face the EK boys with Renewal and Walsall drawing a win will put us in a good position going into the break from the Cup.

Wolverhampton and Perton 6 E K Corinthia 0

Wolves collect three points and a healthy goal difference in their first match in Group A against EK. This group is a tough one to call, with Walsall drawing with Solihull and Selly Oak taking three against an improved St. Boniface, I wouldn't like to pick two from the six. I do think that EK will improve as the season goes on though.

Wolves' Tom Baugh emailed a report: It’s perhaps not surprising given the scoreline, that this was by far and away Wolves best performance of the season. It was a one sided game, I don’t think anyone would dispute that but it remained competitive right to the end, for which EK deserve credit.

In terms of our own performance, the most pleasing aspect has to be the players that won us the game. By half time we were 5-0 up and three of those goals had gone to Steve McGarry. Stevie is almost an ever present at training and hadn’t really been given the chance he deserved for the persistent hard work he puts in. For this reason, I don’t think anyone would begrudge him the spotlight.

It was however, John Morris who opened the scoring with a towering header from close range. He’d later replicate the same finish for the third which was just reward for another fantastic performance. Operating alongside Olly Jones in midfield, I think we’ve currently got one of the best midfields in the League.

Stevie’s hat-trick started with a snapshot from inside the area which beat the goalie at his near post. He then repeated the same run for the second goal, but this time angled his shot inside the far post for a precision finish. With confidence running high, it was hardly surprising to see him grab the ball after Wolves had been awarded a (slightly dubious) penalty. However, there was nothing dubious about the execution, as he rifled the ball low into back of the net.

The second half continued to be an attack versus defence affair with Wolves continuing to dominate. However, it was until very late on that TJ (Tom Johnston) arrived late in the box to smash home at the back post to complete the scoring. In all fairness, as the goals were going in for Wolves in the first half, EK did carve out a few decent openings and perhaps could have had a goal. On the other hand, I don’t think anyone at EK would argue that this was ever going to be anything other than a home win.

I only hope this win starts the run for Wolves that I’ve been expecting from the start of the season. Looking at our squad, we had five pretty good players sitting on the bench on Saturday with a couple more to return. With that kind of depth, I’m convinced we’re at an immediate advantage to some other teams.

Group B

Brierley Hill 1 St. Mary's 4

A hat-trick for Jon Jackaman sees the Cup Holders, St. Mary's on their way in Group B. There are some tough matches ahead for the Aldridge team; it won't be plain sailing to get to the next phase.

Halesowen Zion 8 Bilston Beacons 0

Halesowen really seem to have got into their stride. Todays' eight was the forty-second goal that they have scored this season. They now sit atop of Group B as well as Division Two.

Halesowen's Dave Walters reports: A good solid performance from the Zion with the defence holding tight for the first time this season, I can only remember one chance for Bilston, a good effort that hit the post. We looked good in midfield and our forwards were in great form once again.

Midfielder Jon Lea adds: So, first game of the Cup in the 07/08 season, and for the second time this season we played Bilston Beacons, a team that had apparently "dominated us for 60 minutes" last time we played them. All in all this one was pretty one way traffic.

We were keen to put our battled display of the four-three win behind us and really go out and set a marker in our group, something that we felt was necessary in order for us to show those other teams that this season we really mean business.

The game started brightly, with Bilston on the front foot playing some neat football and created a glaring opportunity that was headed over from six yards within the opening three minutes. Immediately this seemed to serve as a wake up call for us. From there on in, we played some of our best football this season, our wingers Skell and Ben wreaking havoc down the flanks. Skell was rewarded for his hard work with a well taken right footed half volley after the Bilston offside trap failed to work. Our tempo was fast, and Bilston looked a little out of sorts on a slightly bigger pitch, allowing Cocky and Tom to run the channels brilliantly. Again our hard work was rewarded when Tom decided that he actually fancied scoring (again!) and bagged another five. He now has twenty goals from seven games, he's set his own target of a fifty goal haul this season, something that is worringly not unrealistic!

The second half was again a good one for Halesowen, Cocky bagged another, but what was equally pleasing, was a clean sheet and a return to the fold for club captain Chris Noon, who got a good thirty-five mins under his belt in the second half, and really added some stability to the team. An own goal and a sending off (2 minutes into injury time no less) compounded a sorry morning for Bilston, who, in all fairness were played off the park by a very strong looking Halesowen outfit. Hopefully we can have a bit of success this season, the signs are looking promising...

Rowley College 2 Dynamo Kingswinford 2

Rowley's Pete Bennett reports: What a difference a week makes (but not a fortnight)! No sooner had I finished celebrating the strong turn out last week than I was making my way to the pitch today, just after kick-off time, with our eleventh player. I think on paper DK were a little stronger and us a little weaker than two weeks ago but two good, honest sets of lads played a decent, attractive game of football and arrived at the same result. DK play a quick direct version of the game and controlled the momentum for much of the game whilst we played to some extent on the break.

We made the ideal start though when in our first attack Alan Micklewright beat Matty Pearson to a through ball and the keeper’s heavy challenge presented Jamie Hunter with the opportunity to score from twelve yards (which he took). I think we were comfortable for a while, with Nic Hadley coming in, despite injury, to make a great impact in the middle and Chris McIvor largely untroubled as an emergency right back. However DK’s momentum gradually built and had a number of dangerous free kicks which resulted in headed attempts. However they equalized with another unnecessary (but stonewall) penalty. Andy Aston pushed it past Andy Rowe and Rowey dived in just as the boy Aston pushed it on. Stu Yates converted and despite us creating a good chance that Hunter put just wide we went into the interval 2-1 down. This time Richard Gould delivered a pinpoint cross and the aforementioned Aston (who is hardly the tallest lad) guided it into the corner with his head.

Luckily Mark Southall had arrived half way through the first half, so I was able to make a positive change at half time (giving Nic a well-deserved rest) and within a minute or so of the restart we were level when a Jamie Hunter long throw was met by our man-of-the-match Olly Staien to give the keeper no chance. The following 44 minutes served only to shred mine and Gary’s nerves on the side. DK had a number of close things while we largely played on the break but perhaps came closest (twice): once when Southall’s exquisite cross was flicked agonizingly away from oncoming forwards by a DK stopper and then when Pearson made a magnificent one handed save from a Hunter drive. An enjoyable game that they shaded but both teams live to fight another day.

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale adds by text: Surprise, surprise, another draw against Rowley. A well officiated match began badly with us giving away a converted penalty and continued with us failing to get to grips with the Rowley formation. However, a great run from Aston resulted in a penalty which Yates dispatched with aplomb! Ten minutes later, we were ahead. Aston rising like the salmon of salmons to head home from a corner

We failed to start the way we had ended the first half and were pegged back early on by a header from six yards. There were anumber of half chances for both teams, including a good free-kickfrom Hodgetts that flew inches wide and a good save from Pearson. But a point it was and our unbeaten run extends to three games. Oh, heady days!

Group C

City Church 2 King's AFC 3

Andre Johnson on the score sheet again as King's take top spot in Group C. With there only being five teams in the group and the Chawn v Amblecote match cancelled by one of the clubs, this was the only match played.

City's Martin Ogborne texted: An even, hard-fought game, that both sides could have won.

Group D

St. Matthew's 3 St. Thomas' Aldridge 1

St. Matthew's carry their League form into the Cup with a three-one win at home to St. Thomas'. St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls writes: A solid performance saw St Matts pick up three points against local rivals St Thomas. St Thomas started well sending long high balls in to the St Matts back line trying to take advantage of their obvious height advantage but our back line held firm. We took the initiative when a slick move saw the goal scoring phenomenom Davies add to his tally for the season. St Thomas managed to equalise before half time following a scramble in our box.

Second half was a hard faught torrid affair but we managed to take our chances this week and ended up winning as Nicholls notched a brace second half. A solid start to our Cup campaign.

Joe Lister from St. Thomas' adds: I thought I'd add to the site with a St. Thomas' view: The first half saw us kicking up the slope and as Martin wrote, put started very lively. In the first fifteen minutes were the better team and created the better chances. St Matt's took the lead through a break away with Pete Davis, quoting the linesman "JUST being on side" and firing the ball under our keeper and into the net!

Quite an even game and I think it was deserved to go into the half on level ground after Stuart Bottomer did some fancy foot work in the St Matts box and hit a shot which luckily for us rebounded to Mark Hadden who as always hit the target. Half time one-one.

The second half again was quite even, a pull which, I thought, started way outside our box by Jon Clements on their centre forward, followed by a great tackle in the box led to the ref pointing to the spot for pulling of the shirt, from which they took the lead. We then made a couple of subs and tried to push on more, leaving the odd gap and St Matts took advantage with a ball over the top and a lucky rebound which Martin Nichols hit in at the second attempt.

Overall a well battled and rather even game I think, the ref and linemen both agreed that it was a close game.


Zion Athletic 2 Sheldon 7

Without wanting to sound disrespectful to Sheldon or Zion, I raised an eyebrow when I saw this score line. Zion have played well of late, scoring reasonably freely and looking solid at the back. Whereas Sheldon have been struggling in front of goal, with the fewest 'goals for' tally in the League.

Zion's Jon Allen texted: A dreadful first half for Zion but a good response in the second. But all in all the better team won. Well done Sheldon.

Sheldon's Tim Atkins emails: We made club history today by winning our first ever Cup match in our third season in WMCFL. Strange I know! We played well as did Zion but we controlled the game from start to finish and were clinical in front of goal. Zion will do well this year if they keep playing like they did today. I won't mention to much about my thirty yard wonder goal from a free kick.

I'd have written three pages if I'd have scored from thirty yards - Ed.

I have updated the Cups page with tables and results for you to pore over.

Goalkeeper leaving Renewal Solihull

Stuart Hall

I haven’t been in touch before but just wanted to email the league to say thank you for everything.

I have been an ever present playing in goal for Renewal Solihull for the past two years and had some great times with them, getting promoted from Division two and getting to the Cup Final (my main claim to ‘fame’ was getting sent off in that final).

Sadly I have decided to leave Renewal Solihull and also the WMCFL. I’ve been invited to play for a team called the Willclare who are in the Festival League and I also play football in 5 a side leagues during the week so the busy weekend football schedule didn’t leave me with much of a home life. Willclare are in the County Cup this season so it’s a little bit of a step up for me in terms of trying to win trophies and getting better as a player.

This email is a thank you to both the club and the League for giving me the opportunity to play an excellent standard of football within a well organised environment. I believe that the WMCFL is one of the best run leagues I have ever played in. The organisation that goes into it is exceptional, the structure is excellent and the rules and regulations are spot on. I have no doubt that the WMCFL is one of the best amateur leagues in the West Midlands (if not the whole of the UK).

It has been a pleasure being part of it and I wish the organisers, the teams and the players from every club and in particularly Renewal Solihull, every success in the future.

Stuart Hall, Renewal Solihull

Saturday Review

A bit of a late show on my part due to getting my knee fixed. Nevertheless, a full programme of eleven matches.

Division One

Three was the magic number this week-end as every Division One match ends three-something.

St. Matthew's 3 St. Mary's 2

St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls emails: Another game, another win as St Matt's keep on doing an Amblecote (apparently). We should have had the game wrapped up by half time but fortunately were not made to pay for several good opportunities that were missed. St Marys took the lead going in to the half after Sprason hit a nice free kick. Chance after chance went begging and we went in to the half 1-0 down. Not for the first time it must be said.

Second half saw us come from a goal down at half time to take the spoils 3-2. It is not the first time we have been down at half time and ended up winning. Testament to the great team spirit we have at the club. St Marys may feel that they deserved something from the game, but the second half was pretty one sided with more poor finishing from St Matthews. However, two goals from Marvin Nisbett after Dave Broome netted from a corner means that we retain our 100% record. Roll on the 'tougher away games'.

St. Mary's Jon Jackaman texted: The match was a great advert for the League. An entertaining, hard fought and fairly contested match. Credit is due to both teams.

Clarendon 3 Amblecote 1

Clarendon close in on second with a sound 3-1 win at home to a depleted Amblecote team. I've not heard much from either camp on this one, but all brief comments have concluded that Clarendon deserved this one. Roger Moore of Clarendon said 'We played them off the park'.

Clarendon sit ten points behind St. Matthew's and in my mind are their closest rivals having two games in hand.

Rowley College 3 Sheldon 1

Rowley's Pete Bennett emails: To misquote ZZ Top this week (at last) “we had legs and knew how to use them”. For pretty much the first time this season we had three fit subs and it certainly helped against a hardworking and physical (in a positive sense) Sheldon side. This was a decent contest with little between the teams except for the goals. What we had was a strong centre with the old Rowley triumvirate of Southall, Warr and Harvey providing the backbone. We played decent stuff in the first half and carved out a number of chances (and had numerous other attacks snuffed out by their outstanding number Four[?Ed] - Josh Lea?). Sheldon tended to play long and forced Alun Inett, our keeper, to make a couple of goal-stopping saves. We broke through after twenty-odd minutes when a flowing move sent the ball to Alan Micklewright in on goal and he, selflessly, squared it for Stew Harvey to finish. Sheldon put some pressure on just before half time and threatened more.

The vital goal was scored in the early part of the second half when Jamie Hunter added to this season’s goalspree. This was the cue for a Sheldon bombardment and important roles for the aforementioned ‘legs’ as injuries and returns from injuries prompted a forceful return for Rob Hill and an impressive debut from Mark Turton. Mark Southall stayed on at centre half to see his team home despite yet another irritating ‘niggle’ and even though Sheldon scrambled one in following a corner (and for the record our bench agreed with the linesmen despite some protests from my lads) he held the line intact. Pressure was relieved ten or so minutes from time when Chris McIvor’s last kick before substitution turned out to be a defence-splitting pass which left Hunter to lob the keeper and collect his seventh goal in six games.

Chawn Hill Church 3 Renewal Solihull 3

Renewal's Jez Walton emails: Quite a scrappy match at Chawn today, neither side was clinical enough to grab the points comfortably so it was quite fitting that we drew. Another Jon Follows hat-trick has saved us, and his form is thankfully cancelling out that of some others (me included) who still haven't hit a steady stride into the season. Chawn were fairly solid going forward and while the first two goals weren't exactly clinical, they made them fairly well. Jon Follows' second goal was a rocket past the Chawn keeper, albeit from about 8-10 yards. Their last goal from Curtis Jordan was very well taken! Great goal, mate. We had a chance to wrap things up at 3 - 2 up but our sub blasted his rushed shot over the bar.

Still, more points on the board.. onwards and upwards, one hopes!

Brian Follows adds: Chawn in front twice until on fire striker Jon Follows scored his second hat trick in two weeks to put Renewal 3-2 up with some great strikes. We missed a great chance to make it 4-2 then a great finish from the Curtis Jordan from the corner of the penalty box made it honours even.

Neil Kovacs texted: We had one off the line and hit the woodwork twice.

City Church 1 Dynamo Kingswinford 3

City Church's Martin Ogbourn texted: Another slow start and disappointing result for City. Although this week we showed good battling spirit in the second half. Dynamo deserved their three points.

Division Two

Walsall Olympic 2 Halesowen Zion 7

No lack of goals in our Second Division, with four out of the six matches seeing at least eight, not least of which was Halesowen's latetst accomplishment. The Dudley Wood based team's latest win saw Steve Cockcroft and Tom Doran both score hat-tricks and the influential Jon Lea complete the scoring. Tom's latest triple propels him well into WMCFL's recent folklore. A glance at the All-Time Top Scorers in the Archive section confirms that Tom has made it into the top ten.

Halesowen's position was strengthened last Saturday by the solid win and Zion Athletic's loss at the hands of second placed St. Thomas'.

Zion Athletic 4 St. Thomas' Aldridge 7

A strong second half performance and another three goals from Mark Hadden, who incidentally is closing in on Martin Nicholls as All-Time Top Scorer, means that St. Thomas' keep up with Halesowen. I have to say that if I was Luke Penniket, I'd be a little aggrieved. For your team to score four and lose is bad enough, eh Villa fans? But to score four yourself, you'd expect to spend Saturday night gloating, not wallowing in sorrow.

Zion's Jallen texted: I wish a game of football was just 45 minutes. A great first half but once again did not take it into the secons.

Also from Zion, James Hamilton emailed: On a difficult pitch, both sides put on a good show today. We went in 2-1 pleased with our first half performance, after two cracking finishes from Luke Penekit. The second half was a tail of poor defending from set pieces. Penekit added two more, but Aldridge were always dangerous, especially from the long ball forward to their outstanding strike partnership of Hadden and Brady. St. Thomas' definately deserved the three points today and will surely go all the way this year. As for us, we need to get back on the training ground and learn how to defend free kicks and corners. Well played Aldridge, all the best in Division One next year!

W'ton & Perton 2 King's AFC 3

King's seem to have found that elusive goal-scorer that they have been missing over the last season or so. Andre Johnson grabs a hat-trick to send Wolves tumbling to their third defeat in six games. Whilst King's lie in fourth, they have a game in hand, which if they win will put them right up there.

It's not over for Wolves, but they could be as much as seven points adrift. They now need to put together a run to get back up there.

Selly Oak Methodist 2 E K Corinthia 1

Selly Oak add EK's scalp to a growing list of victims in a superb start to the season now having only losing one of their opening six fixtures. Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill emailed a report: What a game! After having to move our fixture to an away game due to St. Boniface being at home we made the trip to the Pavilion which is undoubtedly the best facility in the League.

The first half saw a dominant display from Selly Oak, with some great flowing football. Michael Knowles and Jamie Williams both making nuisances of themselves with some great movement but in saying that we didn’t really test the EK goal. In the first half most our shots being taken from outside the box. EK are good on the counter and were always quick to break once they gained possession and use the ball well down the sidelines but their goal came from what should have been an easy clearance. An unlucky mix up between defence and midfield led to the ball being played through and their striker (Chris Morrison) had the pace (he had to run the majority of our half) and the cool head to slot the ball past our keeper for a one nil lead against the run of play which is how it stayed until half time.

The second half was much more even as EK began to show what I believe to be their true quality. Both sides showing some great passing football. Selly Oak however managed to equalise when a through ball to Michael Knowles led to him being bundled over in the area. A penalty was awarded which Michael duly slotted away to level at 1-1. We then continued to pressure the EK back four but just couldn’t seem to utilise the pressure it just seemed to be one of those days. EK once again found a foothold in the game and had some good spells of possession themselves their No. 9 and 12 especially causing us some trouble but just like ourselves were frustrated in the final third.

With ten minutes to go this looked settled for a draw so our coach Jason Weston sent on a sub with the instructions “get me a goal” On came Laurence Belgrave with his open goal miss last week fresh in his mind and with pretty much his first touch he latched onto a through ball and placed it round the oncoming goalkeeper into the far corner of the net. This was a cruel blow for EK as they had worked hard in the second half to take something from the game however they almost leveled with two minutes to go but were thwarted by a good save from our goalkeeper and the three points were ours!.

EK are a good side, we got the three points today by playing some of the best football I’ve seen us play in the three years we’ve been together and some hard work by the whole team. I am sure they will go on to beat a few teams in this League their other two losses have been at the hands of the top two teams in the League. However nothing should be taken away from how we played in the first half, if we can get a bit more clinical with our finishing it will see us continue to move up the table and continue what has been a great start to the season so far.

The next two weeks brings us the first two Cup fixtures with what is always a good local derby packed full of goals against St. Boniface and then back to the Pavilion to face the EK boys again in what I hope will be equally a good match.

St. Boniface 6 Bilston Beacons 4

St. Boniface's Simon Adams provides a report: Anything the Premier League has, the WMCFL can try to match. Sadly we failed to reach the mammoth 7-4 scoreline at Portsmouth last week, (St. Thomas' went one better, sorry to wreck it for you already Si - Ed) but we came away with a victory in the weekend that a number of our players were celebrating the 100 year anniversary of the 7th Birmingham Boys’ Brigade in Cotteridge.

St Boniface raced into a three goal lead within 20 minutes against a shell-shocked Bilston. First Sparky Hughes, recalled to the side in an unfamiliar wide right position, capitalised on good work by Levi Preston, that saw a cross returned into the penalty area, flicked on by Obi, and Sparky planted his header beyond the keeper. The second followed quickly and it was the player-manager who got the decisive touch. A free kick was swung into the area, Obi headed towards goal, and for some reason the defender chose to shield the ball as it ran towards the line rather than clearing it. I managed to poke a foot through and get a toe to the ball to force it over the line. It gave me much pleasure to score in a week that I lost my 20 yr old nephew, whose body was recovered from the River Ouse in York last Monday, and I dedicate this goal to the memory of Robert Davies.

The third goal was another header, this time from Obi who headed with power from a right wing cross. To be fair to Bilston, they did well to galvanise themselves defensively from then on, as they had taken a pummelling early on, particularly in aerial combat. I think St Boniface were guilty of coasting, and we allowed ourselves to slip down a gear or two and some sloppy play allowed Bilston two goals after they had scored a good first. The first goal had a touch of fortune about it in that a complete airshot by a midfielder saw the ball land at the feet of the big No 10 about 20 yards from goal and in lots of space but he did crack a great shot that arrowed in off the post. The second came from a long clearance and I missed a simple header allowing Ashley Hamer in, who got to the ball just ahead of Jim Gray in the St Boniface goal, and the ball agonisingly for us, just crept in. The equaliser came from sloppy defending in all areas of the pitch, affording Bilston attackers too much time and space to pick passes and crosses and finally an unmarked header from a right wing cross.

St Boniface considered themselves fortunate to gain an opportunity to regain the lead, handed to them by Bilston, when Jim Leghorn used a neat turn to deceive a defender just inside the penalty area, who then upended Jim as he turned towards goal. The impeccable Mr Ward pointed to the spot and Obi made no mistake. At half time the manager rollicked the players for the slack play and then substituted himself to give Craig O’Donnell his debut at centre-back. This move had the desired effect in that we looked more solid at the back and scored two more goals. First a corner from Dave Mapp was headed home at the same time by Matt Adams and Paul Jones. Jonesy won on the flip of a coin in the changing rooms. Obi then completed his hat-trick (his second in 7 games for us) by latching onto a long pass, out-muscling two defenders, going past the keeper and blasting in from the goal-line.

Dave Mapp had to leave to go to work and bringing on a full back for a left-winger who had enjoyed a good game, upset the formation and balance of the side and allowed Bilston a late final flourish. They scored one but hit the post and the bar in a late onslaught but St Boniface held on for the win they deserved, characterised by an amazing close-range, reflex save from Jim Gray that sub Edwards then cleared off the line. For Bilston, despite going three goals down, they didn’t give up, and even showed character having drawn level, then going another three goals down but still battling away. For us, we’re unbeaten in a month (alright we haven’t played for two Saturdays but Stats are Stats).

Sandwell United 5 Brierley Hill AOG 3

Sandwell United get off the mark with a five-three win against fellow strugglers, Brierley Hill. There are a few contributors this week, all Sandwell, and I've done what I can to include them all.

Matt Holt texted: Hazlehurst for England. One of many wins to come.

Myles Wilson adds: Excellent result for Sandwell United, our first win of the season. It was a good battle against Brierley Hill. Sandwell United had to shuffle the players around due to missing personnel, but the team played well in their new positions. Matt Lawley, Sean Snow and Rob Young and the defence deserve a special mention.

The game started badly as the opposition scored in the first ten minutes, but we applied pressure by scoring via Luke Hazelhurst's header. The pressure continued, but they went ahead from a corner. At half time it was 2-1 to Brierley Hill. Within ten minutes of the second half we equalised with a great goal by Matt Lawley (in my opinion it qualifies for goal of the month). It wasn't long before we scored two more goals, one from Luke H and the other from Matt L. They replied with another goal after subbing a player. In the last 15 minutes we scored the winner and Luke's hat-trick.

Keiron Hazlehurst also emails: A depleted Sandwell team who had only eleven men to choose from were made to pay for defensive lapses and quickly found themselves 1 - 0 down and could so easily have found themselves two in arrears if it wasn’t for a great save made by Sandwell’s keeper. Sandwell slowly started to compose themselves and a great move down the right saw Luke Hazlehurst head home to make it 1-1. However the airial presence of Brierley Hills big centre half caused havoc amongst Sandwell’s defence and they were to trail at the interval 2-1.

After the break neat interplay from a throw in between Luke Hazlehurst and Matt Lawley saw the latter equalise with a tremendous left foot drive from just outside the penalty area. A goalkeeping error and a fine individual effort enabled Luke Hazlehurst to complete his hat trick. But yet another goalkeeping error, this time by Sandwell’s keeper brought Brierley Hill get back in it. At 4-3 down Brieley Hill fought bravely for the equaliser, but just as you thought they would snatch something from the game a shot from Luke Hazlehurst was parried to see Matt Lawley kill off the game with another left foot finish.

Ed

Well I think that's just about it for this week. My apologies for the lateness of the updates. I'm sure you will agree they were worth waiting for. Many thanks for this week's contributions from those who have sent in some excellent reports.

Saturday Review

Division One

Just three First Division matches to report on today. St. Matthew's are 'doing an Amblecote' as they cruise past a City Church finding life hard in the top flight. Renewal and Amblecote fight it out in the odd goal in five as Solihull collect their first points and Amblecote relinquish another finger from the expensive newe First Division trophy. Dynamo score at the death to rescue a point at Rowley.

St. Matthew's 8 City Church 1

St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls emails: A good performance from St. Matt's today and to be honest it was a one sided game. City competed for the first twenty minutes or so but St Matthews went in to half time 4-1 up with goals from Ricky Roberts, Martin Nicholls and two from Pete Davies.

The second half saw us add four more. Martin Nicholls and Ricky Roberts both added to their first half tally and Marvin Nisbett and Jon Roberts added goals for themselves. The game however ended badly for City with one of their players leaving in an ambulance after a collision with the post resulted in him having a nasty gash on his leg which will undoubtedly need quite a few stitches. Another City player also was subbed after a collision with his own keeper. It was a strange game as there was not one bad tackle but there were two seemingly bad injuries from freak collisions. We obviously wish both players a speedy recovery.

City's Martin Ogbourn adds by text: A bad day at the office for City. St. Matt's deserved their win. We had two serious injuries which meant we played the last quarter with ten after Rob Stokes went to hospital.

Renewal Solihull 3 Amblecote 2

Renewal's Jez Walton emails: Well, well, well. The three points that we desperately needed have finally arrived. I think everyone knew they'd been in a match, I certainly did (and I only played a half!) We started well, moved the ball around with a fair amount of confidence, and the first goal was a real boost. It was fairly even after that with chances at both ends. Some nice football played. The second half wasn't quite as pretty with a handful of nice fouls and a plenty of yellow cards. None for challenges, which most of the recipients have to be annoyed about, I'm sure.

After our second, which was a sublime volley from Hat-Trick Hero and arguable Man of the Match from our side, Jon Follows, Amblecote hit second gear... Passes through the centre to the wings and forwards were more frequent and gave us plenty of work to do to clear things up. They levelled through a well taken goal from Jon Dowman and a solid spot-kick from Devonport. Solihull were on the back foot in the last ten minutes and clearly holding on, but a great pass from centre-mid Tim Payne to winger Joe Clarke opened up plenty of space going down the left and the subsequent cross was met by Jon Follows. Three goals. Three points. Job done. Hats off to Amblecote for a great performance. All the best for the rest of the season - except for when we play them away! ;)

A Post-Script note to thank Phil George and Brian Follows for their commitment and passion for the team. They shout louder than us, run further than us and argue more calls than us... and they're not even on the bench!

Amblecote's Simon Ashby also emails: A controversial end to yesterdays game. Having ridiculously let ourselves go 2-0 down to bottom side Solihull we got it back to 2-2 with about twenty minutes to go and the proceeded to batter the Solihull goal with at least five glaring chances in front of goal.

Then in the very last seconds following an inswinging free-kick we thought we had won the game, but the referee ruled the goal out for a push in the back of a Solihull player. Whilst the Amblecote contingent remonstrated with the ref the Solihull players ran the length of the pitch to score the winning goal almost unchallenged.

A bitter pill to swallow, and we face the reality that if were going to win the League we can't be losing at teams near the bottom of the Division. We have to start a winning run now if we are going to get to forty points come May and hope that St. Matt's tougher away games to follow, will see them begin to lose points at the top.

Solihull's Brian Follows adds: An incredible game. Five goals, two disallowed, a penalty, a hat trick for Jon Follows interesting refereeing and a bumper pay day for the B.C.F.A .

It was good to see Solihull match a strong and skillfull Amblecote team, sharper finishing the only difference. (Sounds about like the match I watched last season. I hope you all kissed and made up after - Ed).

Rowley College 2 Dynamo Kingswinford 2

Rowley's Pete Bennett provides a report: Conceding an 88th minute equaliser always makes it hard to accept a gracious draw, but neither side really did enough in their periods of ascendancy to fully deserve three points. It was a good game and the best we’ve played as a team all season. Ironically this was on the back of our player shortage reaching its peak (trough?): We were down to a bare eleven today and missing key players. Interestingly DK were very much in the same boat with a number of ‘characters’ absent and this made for a very eventful game played in a good spirit..

What we did have today, for the first time this season, were the services of our captain, Johnny Warr, who with Stewart Harvey gave us a much better platform in the middle. I think this gave confidence to the back lads who worked really hard today. The game had a simple pattern: We started brightly up the hill playing tidy passing football and looking pretty good. We scored in this period when Jamie Hunter crashed in from an impossible angle. (I bet they were all screaming 'pass' weren't they Jamie? - Ed). He had looked for all the world offside but DK’s linresman ignored the protests and waved him on. DK then gradually imposed themselves and scored with a Stu Yates header from a corner just before half time.

The second half followed the same pattern and there was very little in it. When Johnny Warr’s defence splitting pass put Harvey in for our second, it looked like we’d win it. However DK kept going and the lad Kevin drove in a rasping drive to give them a draw. No complaints today and a much better feeling about our football.

DK's Gary Lamsdale texted: A 91st minute equaliser by Hodgetts, after great work by Pinches meant a share of the spoils and probably a fair result. Rowley are a good bunch of lads and Pete has got them playing some nice football at times. A good game played in the right spirit.

Ed's Perspective

A glance at the table would suggest it's all over already. Amblecote were out of the blocks in similar fashion last season, then stuttered over the line later. A copy-cat performance by St. Matthew's is highly likely as they have ridden their luck in a couple of games so far, so I've heard. An eight point gap is some achievement by the end of September. If Clarendon win their games in hand, they will close the gap. Next week they face Amblecote. St. Matthew's will be praying for a draw.

Goal-difference is an interesting statistic to analyse: Amblecote's is only just poorer than St. Matthew's, yet they have half as many points. Rowley have already conceded only one less than the whole of last season. Clarendon have only let in one goal in their three matches. Only Sandwell have let in more goals than the leaky Rowley, City and Dynamo.

Division Two

The first three scores I had in on Saturday were all draws. I thought we might have a full set and then the Halesowen result came in. Walsall nearly made it four draws. I think they should change their name to Walsall Gallant Losers, rather than Olympic.

Sandwell United 1 Halesowen Zion 11

Sandwell take a pounding at the hands of Division Two leaders and early season promotion favourites, Halesowen Zion. Tom Doran takes his tally to twelve in the first month of the season with the five he took today. Halesowen's Dave Walters emails a brief report: We were seven-up at half time (Yes but what was the score? Sorry that was a bit lame - Ed) It was all over but credit to Sandwell who played well in second half and could have scored more.

Walsall Olympic 2 Zion Athletic 3

Walsall Olympic seemingly had more players out than collective fingers and toes of those playing. A makeshift team were 3-0 down on fifteen minutes. Bad starts have cost us. In fact, had Walsall's results been based on second half goals only, they would have won all the games they lost, and lost the game they won... and so the trend continued.

Having clawed it back to 3-2 in the second half. Following the revival, Zion had chances from open play while Olympic created their's from corners, a total of nine after the break. Three shots cleared off the line and one cleared by the post. Walsall achieved their goal of a second half clean sheet but Zion did enough to cling on to what they had.

A note regarding Andy Massey: Since Andy signed for us last season from Bilston he has become like an uncle to all of us at Olympic. His constant optimism, commitment to the team as well as to the tackle lifted us. His presence was our turning point last season both in performances and team spirit. Andy had on operation on his knee on Monday and is unlikely to ever play again due to the damage to a cruciate ligament. I would like to praise him for his service to us over the last 12 months and to the League over many years dating back to when Olympic were League Champions.

This is our opportunity to thank him publically for his service and bravery to the cause. Andy's final injury was fittingly picked up in the cause of victory, a true tribute to his footballing career. We dedicate our season to the man we will miss more than any. Thank you for all your help. (gulp! - Ed).

Ed - Andy and myself are suffering from similar injuries and so have been discussing meniscal cartilages and anterior cruciate ligaments between ourselves. Andy Massey adds: saw a specialist last Friday and had an op Monday night. Thought it was just cartilage locking my knee but when they went in found that the cruciate in my right knee had snapped as well! Removed both and now can go quite a pace in a straight line on crutches and little else! I have to see another specialist Wednesday. Basically I cannot play football again unless have cruciate reconstructed and intensive rehab for 12-18 months. As I am not in my first flush it is highly unlikely they will go for it so probably finished (time to hang up the blue gumshield!)

In the mean time guess this is a good time to say: Thanks to everyone involved with the WMCFL over the years. I have enjoyed playing against and more importantly with so many good friends and people who really make it worthwhile getting up on a Saturday morning, no matter what the weather! So many great memories. Apologies to everyone I have kicked over the years...none have been intentional..honest!

Special thanks to the Beacons, a superb bunch of lads, my present club Walsall, another fine bunch, and also to everyone who has helped make the WMCFL what it is today! Will slowly but surely readjust to being a spectator and who knows with a bit of a miracle I might get back to playing...someone might want a 40+ year old in a couple of years time with a 'bionic leg'?!?!

St. Thomas' Aldridge 2 Wolverhampton & Perton Churches 2

W&P's Tom Baugh emails: I’m gutted Wolves didn’t manage to take the three points today for a number of reasons: Primarily, I think St. Thomas' will be right there in shake up come the end of the season and coming back with the win would have been a massive morale boost for everyone in the Wolves camp. We’re all kicking ourselves for not closing out the game having been two up at half time and firmly in control.

Olly Jones continued his fine form with a well taken first after James Tomlinson’s powerful run and cross was headed back across goal by yours truly, for the dynamic midfielder to slot home. OK, here’s what you’ve been waiting for – my goal. After yet another piece of excellent work from James down the right he drilled a fierce ball across goal that the goalie wasn’t able to hold, and there I was, on hand, to smash the ball high into the roof of the net for a spectacular second – from about one yard. (You nearly missed then? - Ed) Some of my less trusting team mates suggested I nearly bottled it (I added my comment before reading that line - Ed), but I’d argue it was a ‘precision finish’.

That extravagant finish wasn’t the last action of a frantic first half, as James smacked a low drive against the post for Wolves and the usually prolific Mark Hadden failed to score when put through on goal – Uncle Rich in the Wolves goal pulling off a fine save.

We talked about keeping the momentum going in the break but unfortunately we were unable to and before too long we were inviting the home side back into the game. Mark Hadden did what he does best and found the net before a deep cross was sent goalwards for the equaliser. You’ll forgive me for the vague descriptions but I was still reeling from my own supreme goal. My growing arrogance was soon wiped away however, after I somehow managed to squander two match winning chances late on. The first, a mis-judged bounce which took a great one on one opportunity away and the second a header over the bar when I should have at least hit the target.

Overall, in a hectic game between two committed sides on what was an exceptional pitch this was a thoroughly enjoyable game of football. The unbiased would probably say a draw was a fair result but that’s not me is it, so I’m going to suggest Wolves should perhaps have come back with all three points in the bag.

We roll on for a month of home games and look to push on and get some much needed points on the board.

Selly Oak Methodist 2 King's AFC 2

King's slip up somewhat drawing with the rejuvenated Selly Oak. In Rob O'Neill's report last week, he suggested that Selly Oak would be doing well to get anything from this match. So I'm sure they'll be pleased with the result. A quick backwards look at this season so far will also bring a nod of contentment from the Selly Oak Secretary: Five games, only one defeat and that by but one goal, a positive goal difference and a mid-table berth.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill emails: A great battling game as we once again hold one of the top four to a draw. As I mentioned last week, King’s came to watch us against Wolves and walked away quietly confident of getting a result today. However we started the brighter of the two teams putting a lot of pressure on the King's goal with Michael Knowles causing all sorts of problems in the air for the King's back four and the pressure resulted in quite an early goal. A quick break down the left with the ball played into the edge of the box and Peter Donalds and the Goalkeeper reaching the ball at the same time. The goalkeeper was unlucky and spilled the ball allowing Pete to slot it into and empty net. This served as a wake up call to King's and the game stepped up a gear. The game was moving swiftly end to end, with King's dominating the last period of the first half pelting our goal. However, they were lacking the clinical precision which resulted in Selly Oak being one nil up at the break. (Sounds like last season - Ed).

Both teams came out firing in the second half, however in almost a mirror image of the first half another quick break down the left and the ball was flicked over the keeper into the centre of the area. Michael Knowles muscled off the defender to slot the ball home from about three yards. Once again rather than King’s head dropping this served as another rallying point for them. Both teams pace was utilised to the full.

With twenty minutes to go the score remained 2-0 to Selly Oak. The ball finally ended up in Selly Oak’s net when a cross was whipped across our box and placed into the far corner to make for a nervy final fifteen. We still had life left in us yet and could have put the game to bed but Lawrence Belgrave was unlucky to see his sliding shot go wide of an empty net. Then the almost inevitable happed with about ten minutes to go King's levelled the game at 2-2 which looking back at the match as a whole was probably a fair result.

Both teams could have had more but some heroic defending at times from Selly Oak's Daniel Morris deserves a mention for putting his head in the way (I'm not sure how much he knew about it mind) of a venomous shot from about ten yards. This sums up our back four's (and goalkeepers) efforts so far this season: Their hard work, with the addition of some quality players in the midfield and up front has made the difference so far this season. It leaves us, after five games, only two points off fourth. We're no longer an easy game for the top teams and if we can get the results from the teams below us in the League as well I’m confident of a top half finish which is a huge turn around from the last two seasons.

Ed - King's will perhaps be a little frustrated at the outcome. They've been ousted from the top three, although could restore that placing with a two-goal win from their game in hand. They play W&P next week and need to avoid dropping points or suffer further slippage.

Bilston Beacons 1 Brierley Hill AOG 1

Brierley Hill's Jonathan Bingham reports: An improved performance from Brierley Hill this week. Not much quality, but we were solid at the back and competetive in midfield. I had a few fears before the game when I saw the nemesis of many of our losses: A big long pitch, which normally tests our poor fitness levels. At least this season some of our team have been training with Amblecote, which has helped. (The first time in ten years we've ever had mid-week training maybe tells a story that we're not quite as serious as some of the other teams!)

Bilston's goal came from a deep cross to the back post and a bit of hesitancy in defence allowed Wayne Boothe to head home. We continued to plug away and scored a good equaliser when Carl Wakelam (Dad keeping up with son in the scoring stakes - Ed) headed home powerfully from a corner. The referee was excellent today (best we've had this season) as he managed to control the match when it was quite bad tempered at times. Having drawn 1-1 three times already this season, we're looking quite solid but lacking some quality and pace in the final third.

Mistakes

I've had a few folks on to me saying I've spelled their name wrong or haven't got their goals right. This is absolutely fine by me. Sometimes I wish people would tell me more often.

If I've got your name wrong, please just drop me an email or text, and I'll get it changed. Ed

Elim Athletic

Great news: I've already had firm enquiries from two clubs to join next season. One is still under wraps but the other is Elim Athletic FC. Tracey and Jon Earp will be applying to rejoin WMCFL with what they describe as an up and coming team.

For players interested in joining the new club, please email Tracey at traceyanne.66@hotmail.co.uk

Saturday Review

Division One

St. Matthew's 3 Dynamo Kingswinford 1

St. Matthew's continue to stake their claim to the First Division title as they do an 'Amblecote'. That's four out of four for the Walsall based team. They widen the gap to five points coutesy of Amblecote brushing aside Rowley College who were second going into the match.

Big Mart from Walsall reports: Mixed emotions today as St. Matthew's are delighted to win again but a bit of disappointment crept in as the performance was not the best. St. Matt's started well enough and dominated the early exhanges only for Dynamo to score from their first attack. The lead was pegged back just before half time when Martin Nicholls scored from the penalty spot.

The second half saw St. Matthew's go ahead when Ricky Roberts finished smartly from a flicked on throw in. The points were secured late in the game when Marvin Nesbitt broke free of the Dynamo defence to finish clinically as the keeper sprawled at his feet.

Dynamo's Gary Lamsdale texted: Oh the joys of football: I have class one and class two eggs, but unfortunately no-one that knows how to make an omelette.

Amblecote 5 Rowley College 0

Amblecote catch Rowley on an off day, whilst they were having an on day. Rowley's Pete Bennett reports: Excellent referee today (compliments from both teams-Ed) on a perfect (and to our cost enormous) pitch with sadly only one result. As I have said in all of my reports this season we have really struggled to field anything like the team that brought us up last time and with the heart of it missing today against the Champions (and our all-time bogey team) we were left chasing shadows and holding. Amblecote have beaten enough full strength Rowley sides (including our best team: see Rowley history for details) for my description of a walking wounded today not to seem like an excuse. We had a plan (containment) but conceded a poor goal from a corner in the first five minutes largely did for that, though after Devonport had added a well-taken second we did keep thing pretty tight for a long period, sadly with no real threat to their goal.

Amblecote were terrific using the pitch to full advantage and playing great, crisp, fluent football. Alun Inett in our goal made three or four excellent saves in the game as Silva and Fellows dictated things. Things got worse for us when Rob Hill had to leave the field injured thus reducing my options further. That was still 0-2, when the third went in, last hopes went and we had a short, sorry for ourselves collapse. 5-0 was certainly not flattering but I can have no complaints about my lads and their attitude and Stewart Harvey deserves a mention. Stew was coming back from a knock and was looking for 30 minutes: in fact he did 90 on that pitch and ensured that it was not a cricket score. Jadon scored one great goal, a rasping volley before completing a hat trick and we were left to lick our wounds and hope the ‘cavalry’ return soon!

Amblecote's Simon Ashby (the White Viv Anderson) also writes in: First game back at the Dell and three points in the bag. Having won all but one game here last year, being back there makes such a difference to us with our passing and moving and we managed to ease past Rowley reasonably comfortably.

Before kick-off it didn't look like Pete had brought a huge squad over for the game which always give the home team a lift but we started well and I think deserved to be two up at half-time. Some good football after the break and our gaffer getting a hat-trick (we will be reminded of it all week) meant a pretty straight forward day at the office.

We really wanted at least nine points at this stage but seven will do, and hopefully we can start to trim the lead to St. Matt's at the top.

St. Mary's 4 Renewal Solihull 2

St. Mary's ghost into third spot with a win at home home to struggling Solihull. Whilst some were saying that St. Mary's were fortunate last week, the match is over ninety minutes, goals from John Moanatt, Jon Jackaman, Andy Tink Beeson and Matt Bignell give St. Mary's their first win of the year, condemning Renewal to zero points from three. Although, I doubt they will be there at the end of the season.

Sheldon 0 Clarendon 0

Both teams make a mockery of my pre-season predictions: I had Sheldon down as rooted to the bottom of the table and Clarendon as champions. Sheldon's Lyndon Fisher texts: Sheldon never gave Clarendon any time and space. A draw was a fair result.

City Church 2 Chawn Hill Church 0

City pick up another point, but they felt like it was two dropped, rather than one gained. City's Martin Ogbourn texted: Another game, another 2-0 lead for City and another draw! If the games were over fifty minutes, we'd be deadly. However, a good all-round team performance as we finished strongly. Overall it was a close, fair contest and was played in a positive spirit by both teams. Neil Kovacs also by text adds: Two-nil to City at half-time. City are a credit to League.

Division Two

Bilston Beacons 3 Halesowen Zion 4

Halesowen cling onto top spot having let in one goal fewer than St. Thomas'. Both the top sides were behind before rescuing the points. King's took the day off and were leap-frogged by Zion Athletic. Halesowen's Jon Lea emailed a report: Halesowen came from behind to grab a somewhat deserved victory away at Bilston today. A spirited second half performance livened up a drab encounter as Bilston scored the only goal of the first half with what can only be described as an off cutter.

The second half began brightly with Halesowen showing renewed vigour going forward, only to be thrawted at the other end by a brilliant own goal* from our right winger Tom Skellern. (*Another one for the dubious claims committee - Ed). Pressure from Bilston resulted in a corner that was fizzed into the near post allowing Skell to fling himself at the ball, only to see it fly past our helpless keeper who, in all fairness, was left rooted to the spot.

Halesowen pushed Bilston back, and once we got the ball on the floor and actually used our feet, a flowing passing move allowed Tom Doran to break the offside trap and smash the ball in with the help of a deflection. To their credit, Bilston reacted marvellously, and once again flowing football (mainly through their star man Hamer) resulted in a corner. A decent cross led to a goalmouth scramble with Bilston having the ball in the net before actually scoring (it's a long arduous story!) before it was prodded home by Winters.

So Halesowen left 3-1 down...cue reaction. All of a sudden we started moving the ball quickly, Cocky dropping off the front man allowed more space up front and added width to a relatively narrow midfield. Our good football led to a few chances, all of which were spurned. Now any of you who know us lot, will know that when it comes to attacking headers, Paul Debney is, (in the nicest possible way) not really the guy you want on the end of a cross, but up he went for a corner, and met the ball like a young Geoff Astle, smashing the ball into the back of the net and getting us back in the game.

From there on in, we really set up camp in the Bilston half, wary of being hit on the breack, we moved the ball from back to front well and combined to set up Tom again, this time with his head, who in turn repayed the compliment by heading it against a Bilston player and into the open net. We maintained the pressure and went for the kill, trying to grab all three points that we felt we deserved. Chances came and went, until a corner on 85 mins. After a scramble the ball was half cleared to the edge of the box, only for Jon Lea to smash it into the bottom left hand corner to grab all three points, the win, and glory!!

Who said football wasnt fun? - (I'll send you a list - Ed).

Bilston's Dek Dudfield adds: Credit to Zion who despite being three-one down continued to ask questions of the Bilston team who thought this one was in the bag. A draw would have been bad enough for us but to lose it right at the death was painful to watch.

Jason Jackson also pitches in, by text: We were three-one up and threw it away. I have to say a big credit to Bilston who are still gelling. They are a good side, top of the table and we played them off the park for sixty minutes. We may have deserved a point, but it didn't come. Credit to Halesowen.

Walsall Olympic 2 St. Thomas' Aldridge 3

Walsall's Mark Webb emails: A good local derby atmosphere. St. Thomas' taking the lead within the first five minutes, springing the offside trap before Olympic levelled from the spot. Walsall had a second half strike disallowed before taking the lead with thrity-five minutes to hold on. St. Thomas' scored twice in the last ten, at a time when they could have given up. Two brave performances and a shame the points couldn't have been shared.

Sandwell United 0 Zion Athletic 5

Zion enter the push for promotion as serious contender with a solid five-nil win against bottom of the table Sandwell, still seeking their first point of the season. It is still very tight at the top of the table with the two Zions, St. Thos and King's breaking away.

Selly Oak Methodist 0 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1

I will say that this match, in my mind, was a big one for both clubs. W&P needed the points badly and it was a stern test for Selly Oak. However, as it stands, both clubs appear to be settling into a mid-table pack along with Bilston, which is a quantum leap for Selly Oak and a disappointment for W&P.

Tom Baugh from W&P emails: Wolves got back to winning ways with a strong team effort against an energetic Selly Oak outfit that will probably argue they deserved a point. I can only speak from a W&P perspective but I thought we were decent value for the win.

John Morris playing his first league game for the club (remember that name) (I do: the elephant? - Ed) scored with a well timed header from a corner early on and from that point I never really thought the result would be anything other than an away win. Credit to Selly Oak for coming back strong and attacking us for long periods of the second half, but our defence were equal to most things they threw at us. There was a lot of enthusiasm and movement on their part but nobody ever really looked like they were going to stick the ball in the net. That isn’t to say they didn’t come close on the odd occasion with one particularly entertaining spell of penalty area pinball, resulting in the ball hitting the underside of the bar a couple of times. However, once this danger was cleared, we defended resolutely. Wolves were pretty wasteful themselves and even had the luxury of missing a second half penalty when I myself smashed the ball against the bar.

After the game, Rich Webster said of my shooting this season, “You couldn’t hit a barn door with a banjo” and sadly I have to concur. At the moment I tend to be on the end of most of the W&P chances and have yet to register this season. Olly Jones should also have had a goal when he forced a fine save from the Selly Oak keeper late on as Wolves looked to put the game beyond doubt.

After four games W&P sit fifth which doesn’t at all represent where we want to be. I’m confident however, that when all is said and done we’ll be back in Division 1. I’m in my fourth season with the club and I really like the mix of players we’ve drafted in over the summer. If we can keep the back door shut I think we might surprise a few people.

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill responds: Not the best of games for Selly Oak this weekend as we played our first game against Wolves and Perton. The game looked to be in our favour in the first ten minutes as unlike last week we took command. However, we failed to clear two corners in a row and the third led to a scrappy goal for Wolves in a pretty uneventful first half. A small delegation from King's who had the weekend off were on the sideline and to be honest we didn’t offer much to scare them for next week’s fixture at Raddlebarn Road.

The second half saw us again waste chances as the Wolves goalkeeper proved solid on the one on one situations and their defence worked well clearing their lines. The main problem was Wolves stopped us from playing our football. They earned a penalty halfway through the second half to put themselves in a great position however our goalkeeper Josh Wright employing some Bartezesque wandering around the area seemed to have the desired effect as the ball was thumped against the crossbar. A welcome return from Nathaniel Regisford after injury who was brought on in the second half along with Peter Donalds injected some pace in the front line, however Wolves continued to frustrate us and we failed to produce any sort of flowing football.

Wolves deserved the three points today working very hard and probably just edging us on the chances. We will need to regroup as, I mentioned before, it’s Kings next week. A win will put us right back amongst the top teams a loss will wedge us into the mid table group although there are plenty of games to go. We have Wolves at Raddlebarn again in the Cup this season and will hope to reverse the result.

Brierley Hill AOG 1 E K Corinthia 1

Brierley Hill's Jonathan Bingham emails: Awful, shocking, poor, inept, dire. It was difficult to take any positives from the game despite picking up a point from the result. In ten years of church football, this was one of the lowest quality matches I've played in (no exaggeration!). (Blimey it must have been bad - Ed).

Rarely are Brierley Hill dominant in a match, but we probably missed six one-on-one chances with the keeper; only to skew the shot wide or miss hit completely. We then fell to a classic sucker punch when EK scored a simple headed goal from a corner. With time running out, we continued to miss chances and decided to take the more direct approach, sending Carl Wakelem up front from a goal kick. The tactic worked as he headed the ball through for his son, Sam, to smash it home. (This continues the Brierley Hill tradition as it's the third father/son combination we've had since I started playing - maybe a sign of the upper age limit for some of our players!).

Both teams will stuggle this season unless there is big improvement and it had the feel of a bottom of the table match. EK also showed some worrying signs of self-imploding as there were many arguments between their own players. Hopefully we will get better, but we badly need two or three players who can score goals.

EK's Chris Morrison with a late email: Considering that EK have ten players out injured or unavailable at the moment everyone is having toplay in positions where we are not used to so I think to get a draw and almost win it until the last minute was a credit to them. As a new team we are working to get things right on and off the field and we are still confident that we can do well in this league! Credit to Brierly Hill they kept on battling and a draw was a fair result (even though I thought we had a perfectly good goal disallowed!)

Ed - I really thought EK would feature in the mid-table pack this season, but it would appear at least for now that they are mixing with the footage. Just a note to add that I forgot. Ian baker, Brierley Hill Secretary forgot to text me his scorer. His excuse: We don't normally score goals, so I forgot!

I did the stadium tour at Anfield a few weeks ago and was surprised to hear what they did at half time. The dressing room is littered with Jaffa Cakes, Haribo sweets and plenty of other low-fat, high-sugar energy boosting foodstuffs. With two of our teams fading in the last ten minutes and conceding crucial goals, perhaps it's something that could be added to the half-time swig of water?

This Saturday

We look forward to another Saturday morning full of WMCFL fixtures, with twenty of the twenty-two clubs involved.

In Division One, Amblecote will want to take all three points at home to Rowley College if they are to hang onto their Division One winner's trophy. However, Rowley will be keen to eradicate last week's disappointment. Chawn Hill travel to City Church looking to build on their win at Dynamo last week, but City will be keen to add to their one point from two games or face dropping into a relegation fight.

We see a re-run of this year's Cup final as bottom of the table Renewal visit St. Mary's. Neither club have registered a win yet this season, but to put a positive spin on it, St. Mary's are unbeaten as they have drawn all three matches so far, including their late come-back against Amblecote last week.

St. Matthew's will be looking to extend their 100% record with a home win against a Dynamo side who will also want to put a stop to a losing streak. In the last match in the top flight, Sheldon will look to take the momentum of last week's four-nil drubbing of Solihull into their match with Clarendon.

In Division Two, new leaders Halesowen Zion visit Bilston Beacons who were beaten by the other Zion last Saturday. After an opening win, E K have not had much luck and took a pounding at the hands of Halesowen. They will see tomorrow as a big chance to turn their form around as they play Brierley Hill at South Road. However, despite their lowly eleventh placing, Brierley Hill can be awkward opponents and have sprung the odd surprise in the past. Like most clubs, when they have their full team out, with the wind behind them and a little bit of luck, they can turn you over.

Bottom club Sandwell United entertain a resurgent Zion Athletic. After a loss to perhaps one of the Division's favourites King's, Zion have shown some form and despite their defeat have scored three in every game.

In my mind, the top game in the division this week-end is Selly Oak versus W'ton & Perton. Both clubs face a stern test: Selly Oak are the latest club to threaten to rise up from the bottom of the League and Wolves have fallen on harder times. A win for Selly Oak will leave them with eight points from four matches, that kind of form would surely give them an outside chance of promotion. A loss for W&P would mean a meagre return of just three points from four.

The last of the ten games scheduled pits Walsall Olympic against fellow Walsallites St. Thomas'. Walsall fresh from their five-three victory against Sandwell will pull of a shock if they repeat the feat against almost top of the table St. Thomas' who surely must regard the game as 'must win'. Incidentally, I was told that Walsall were leading four-nil at one point last Saturday.

Have fun. Ed

New Photos

I have added photos of King's AFC and Zion Athletic. Many thanks to those that have sent in pictures. I'm sure you'll agree, it makes the site a whole lot better.

A Tale of Three Journeys

Derek Dudfield recommends:

On the 18th & 19th October 2007 Mark Ritchie will be performing his production 'A Tale of 3 Journeys' at the Mill Theatre Sedgley. This is a one man show that uses humorous and poignant stories from Mark's life to take the audience on a journey towards finding God. It is an excellent evangelistic opportunity for church members to invite friends and relatives to. Running parallel to both performances is a free children's club at Sedgley Community Church. The club is open to all 5-11 year olds whose carer/parent(s) are attending the theatre. Places at the children's club need to be booked when performance tickets are purchased. Tickets for 'A tale of 3 Journeys' can be purchased by phoning 01902 498781 or online www.bilstonpentecostalchurch.co.uk. THERE'S A GREAT BALTI HOUSE OPPOSITE THE THEATRE WITH LOADS OF PARKING AND A FINISH OF 9PM GIVES US FOOTBALLERS TIME TO GET TOGETHER TO EAT AND TALK

League Cup 2007/8

I've made a new League Cup Page. You can access it through the Cups link from the main navigation bar. I hope you like it. Ed

Week-end Review

Division One

Cricket weather again last Saturday morning. Me and my fellow referee's assistant were discussing which side of the pitch to stand on based on which way the sun was shining. I'm sure the rain, frost and mud will return in due course.

St. Matthew's 5 Rowley College 3

St. Matthew's blistering start to the season continues as they knock five past Rowley College in Saturday's top game. St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls was first in with his report: A second 'six-pointer' in as many weeks for St. Matthew's as they faced Rowley.

Both teams played nice football from the on-set. The first half was pretty even. St. Matthew's took the lead with Pete Davies looping in a cross-come-shot which seemed to catch the Rowley keeper off guard. Rowley soon equalised as a clutch of players attacked a ball from a corner which somehow found its way in the net. A twice taken Jamie Hunter penalty saw Rowley take a two-one lead, which was pegged back when Marvin Nesbitt equalised, meaning honours even at half time.

Early in the second half Rowley scored after a flowing move resulted in a smart back post finish. Then St. Matthew's sprang into life with three quick fire goals of their own. A great Mersonesque ball from Pete Davies found Martin Nicholls who broke free of the defence and squared for Nisbett to fire home the equaliser. From the resulting kick off St. Matthew's won back possession and Nicholls fed Nisbett again who scored after his deflected shot deceived the Rowley keeper. Minutes later Nesbitt broke free again only to be felled in the box and Davies converted the penalty to end the scoring.

It was refreshing to play in a game that was very well refereed and was between two teams that played good football and I honestly can't remember a bad tackle in the whole game.

Rowley's Pete Bennett responds: Our first League defeat in over a year came at the hands of a fit and fluent St Matthews side, who thoroughly deserved their win. As I have said each week Rowley have stumbled into the campaign from an almost non-existent pre-season and have genuinely struggled for a team each week. While that provoked an inspired team performance last week, this week it caught up with us rather (despite us welcoming back the quality of Rob Hill and Matthew Cooke). What we lacked today was anyone to get on the ball in midfield with Mark Southall filling in again at centre half and that finally told.

Ironically the game slipped away from us from the very moment the theoretical game plan had come to fruition. St. Matt's play on a pitch with a considerable slope and we tried to defend it first half. The early exchanges were fairly even with our forward players proving again how effective they are: (Scoring three away from home, they deserved better). We saw early how dangerous the boy Marvin is for them: very quick with great ability (a terrible combination!) but Southall was once again immense and by concentrating on stopping the channel through from Martin Nicholls, we kept things quiet. Their momentum built though and Alun Inett made a great save to keep it nil-nil. Just when I thought we were weathering the storm St. Matt's struck with one of those thirty yard punts back post that find themselves dropping over the keeper’s head (though their scorer claimed he meant it). I’d have settled for 0-1 up the hill but within fifteen minutes we were two-one ahead: A Craig Micklewright header from a corner followed by a twice taken Jamie Hunter penalty following a harsh hand ball call (note: the ref was excellent because completely consistent: Every time a hand touched the ball either way he gave it). I was annoyed then that we conceded an equaliser just before half time (scrambled in following a cross) but was more than happy overall to be kicking downhill level.

The second half was something of a nightmare as our lack of a fully fit eleven was cruelly exposed despite us taking the lead. However the warning signs were there as they dominated the opening ten minutes, forcing corners and a couple of saves. Against this run of play we produced the game’s best moment. In a slick passing movement reminiscent of our best days Hunter and the Micklewrights combined to cut St. Matt's open and Alan Micklewright drove us three-two into the lead. Their response (sadly) was immediate with a Marvin goal then a penalty quickly turning the tables. Thereafter though we always had a threat the game was likely to be theirs and a fifth followed (and they had time to miss a penalty). Lots of entertainment today and no complaints about the result.

St. Mary's 3 Amblecote 3

Amblecote move into third spot with a three-all draw at St. Mary's, but already trail the leaders by five points.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby provides a report: I must confess, an hour after the game and I am still gutted. Another day where all the Amblecote lads sat down at the end of ninety minutes and wondered what has just happened! After dominating the first half and going in so comfortably at three-one up, we somehow let a lead slip in the last twenty minutes to end three-all.

Having gone one down early on, we equalised very quickly with four quick passes putting Shawn Devonport through and an easy finish. Another two goals came about in quick succession, the first from Tim Fellows when a deflected shot bounced past the St. Mary's keeper and the third from a close range effort by Dave Oakley.

At half-time it was comfortable and stayed that way until seventy minutes when St Marys were given a penalty following a handball which was well converted. Then with just five minutes left an inswinging free-kick was touched by an Amblecote head and looped over the advancing keeper.

Moments from the end only a last gasp tackle prevented Devonport from stealing the points, but overall another very disappointing day for Amblecote and at the end it felt more like a defeat than an away point. We feel we are playing well enough to have had nine points by now, but we know we can't keep dropping points and will aim to put it right next week.

St. Mary's Phil Kinson texted: Our best performance of the season so far. That's twenty-two players that knew they were in a game today.

Dynamo Kingswinford 1 Chawn Hill Church 3

Chawn Hill off the mark with three points against local rivals Dynamo Kingswinford. Gary Lamsdale texts: A much better performance from DK. Three-one flattered Chawn, who made the most of two penalties. Our time will come.

Sheldon 4 Renewal Solihull 0

Sheldon also secure their first three points of the year as Solihull revert to their old form. I did think that the Solihull of old was dead and buried, but the phoenix rises from the flames. It's no so long ago that Renewal recorded nine back-to-back defeats, but still avoided relegation. Will we see a repeat performance?

Division Two

It's extremely tight at the top of Division Two after week three, with the top three separated by the width of a fag paper, or should I say a page of the King James? Halesowen Zion sit atop of the Division with a one better goal difference than King's and St. Thomas', Halesowen's eight-two score line giving them the advantage.

E K Corinthia 2 Halesowen Zion 8

I was a little surprised at this result, I did think that Halesowen would win, but not by so many. Halesowen's hirsuit player-manager John Williams reports: Another good result for us this week, if only we all had pitches like the one EK have, it was like playing on a bowling green. (The changing facilities are equally as comely - Ed). We started well, taking the game to the opposition with our passing football, and were quickly rewarded with a goal as Tom Doran scored with a deft chip over the oncoming keeper. Like last week we probably relaxed too much after our opener and our offside trap was found lacking as EK’s Steve Harper found himself with the ball at his feet, in the clear and finished well to bring them level at one a piece.

Fairly soon after, the in form Tom Doran netted to restore our lead, finishing off a lovely passing move down the left hand side of the pitch. We kept up the pressure, our forward line giving EK’s defence a nightmare for the remainder of the half. The ref blew the half time whistle with us having scored again, to leave us three-one up. But for a few missed chances, including a near carbon copy chip from Tom Doran that missed fractionally to the right, it could have been five.

At the start of the second half, EK made some tactical changes, swapping their wingers and making a substitution at the back. Steven Cockroft was first to pounce this half with a goal which made the most of a fluffed clearance from a defender. Nick Bennett, having made a quick recovery from last week's injury, was the victim of another ankle injury and was replaced by Matt Noon, whose solid distribution served us well for the remainder of the game. During the second half further injuries to Tom Skellern and Grant Doran, saw a solid debut for Stu Adkins on the left wing (later at left back) and a return to competitive action for fans' favourite (note the editor's plural placing of the apostrophe - Ed) Dave (Boona) Westwood, a summer signing back to his spiritual home after a brief foray with Athletic. Although we did concede one further goal, the remainder of the half saw us score four more, including a rasper from the corner of the box from Ben Doran. I would describe them in better detail but its nice when you score so many you can’t quite remember how! Suffice to say great performances saw Tom Doran and Steven Cockroft finished with three a piece leaving Ben Doran to bag the remaining two. Great result aside, we are still a long way from our best, I’ll be expecting more as we settle into the season.

St. Thomas' Aldridge 3 Selly Oak Methodist 3

St. Thomas' are pegged back with a three-all draw at home to Selly Oak, but hold onto second spot courtesy of greater goals scored having being on the same points and goal dofference as third placed King's. Match report provided by Selly Oak's secretary Rob O'Neill: A very close game against St. Thomas' with both teams going into the game unbeaten. St. Thomas' looked to set the early pace as Selly Oak struggled to get a foothold. However, a quick break and Sean Burke’s crisp finishing gave Selly Oak an early lead.

After that, we settled into the match and both teams had an equal share of near misses and possession before the scores were brought level with a goal from Mark Hadden. He seems bent on the Golden Boot again this season. After conceding, we kept our composure and our hard work paid off again with Laurence Belgrave chasing what seemed to be a lost cause: He managed to get the ball into the box which eventually supplied Michael Knowles with his first of the season. It looked like we may head into the break with a one goal lead but St. Thomas' had other ideas and leveled making the score two-two at half time.

The second half was quite a scrappy affair with both teams tiring but St. Thomas' still had some life in them and made good use with a third goal coming mid-way through the second period. In previous seasons this would have finished our hopes off and we may have gone on to loose four or five-two (or more -Ed) but we seem to be made of sterner stuff this season. With about twenty minutes to go Michael Knowles equalised with a well taken header. We knew we needed a result against St. Thomas should we have any chance of being in the right half of the table come the end of the season and a hard fought point away from home is as good as any.

Next week sees our first (official) home match (we have already played St. Boniface at Raddlebarn) against Wolves and Perton a team we have never played knowing a win will leave us just three points short of last season's tally of eleven and a great start on a possible shock promotion chase.

Brierley Hill 0 v King's AFC 4

A respectable but inevitable result at South Rd for both sides as King's keep right on the pace in the promotion push. Two goals for Adam Ricketts and one a piece for Andre Johnson and Mykel Phipps secure another three points in King's quest for an immediate return to the top flight.

Zion Athletic 3 Bilston Beacons 0

Three second half goals at Dudley Wood moves Zion up to fourth, leap-frogging a stubborn Bilston team. Bilston had put up a good fight in the first half looking reasonably solid at the back, with Alfie Westwood sweeping up. However, the aforementioned Bilston captain was carrying an injury and ran out of steam in the second half. Zion's fraternal central defensive duo of Pete and Jon Allen snuffed out everything that Bilston threw at them, the latter got his name on the score sheet planting a header into the Bilston net from close range directly from a corner. Zion's three points keeps them in close contention with the leading trio.

St. Boniface 3 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 2

The journalistic phrase of “profligate finishing” best sums up this match between two well-balanced teams. I think we snook the win on the basis of some better finishing, as Wolves & Perton had chances to pull level that they didn’t take.

A much-changed St Boniface line-up missing last year’s Player of the Year Paul Jones in defence, Nigerian Obi up front, and new signings Matt Mogg and James Ayers at a wedding, gave opportunities to others to stake a claim for a place in the side. There were first starts for last season regulars Rob Seward (this time at right back rather than in goal), Scott Pickering and Jim Leghorn (although Jim has featured twice as substitute). W & P started well, putting the St Boniface defence under pressure early on. However, the change of formation in the St Boniface line-up seemed to pay dividends, when Levi Preston broke from his own half, fed Chris Dowen just outside the penalty area, and Chris turned and placed a shot into the bottom corner for a good finish to a classic counter-attack. St Boniface could barely believe their good fortune when Preston forced a corner having broke free down the left. A great corner from Paul Yeomans, found Dowen in acres of space in the middle of the area and he made no mistake with a neat header. W&P did not give up and pulled one back from a half-cleared corner which was returned into the goal area and finished with a close-range header although Matt Adams was adamant he was pushed as about to head clear.

St Boniface, I am ashamed to say, should have gone two further goals ahead from wonderful Paul Yeomans corners falling invitingly into the Player-Manager’s head and he missed not once, but twice! W&P also missed inviting chances as the ball broke across the St. Boniface area towards the close of the half. W&P were a bit of a mystery in that they attacked offensive set pieces fiercely, causing numerous problems from corners and throw-ins, yet were largely absent for any high balls when defending set-pieces.

W&P came out fired up for the second half and could probably sense a victory when they equalised soon after the re-start, with arguably the best goal of the game. A good move down the left was finished by a fine run by the centre-forward to the near post where he flashed a smart header in to level the scores. St. Boniface were not ready to throw in the proverbial towel, and regained the lead almost immediately when a long free-kick from Simon Adams found Rob Mapp on the right, he turned the left back without even touching the ball, cut in from the right and beat the keeper at his near post. Both sides had chances in the remainder of the game, W&P probably having the best of them but to St Boniface’s credit, we didn’t need to score again and defended well except for a few set pieces where we rode our luck a little.

A good game of football, two well-matched teams trying to play football on a decent surface. W&P have a decent keeper who kicks with distance and accuracy, good ability down the flanks and two strikers who work really hard. Their weaker areas in this game appeared to be at the back and in central midfield, but there is a basis for a decent side which should finish in the top half of the Division.

W&P's Tom Baugh also reports: A disjointed performance from Wolves & Perton saw their hopes of a second successive league victory dashed by a combative St. Boniface outfit.

After an encouraging result last week, Wolves went into the game with strong confidence, but without the inspirational Andy Page in defence. Wolves started the stronger and were playing decent football despite having to contend with a tight pitch that had been turned into a block of concrete by the warm weather. However, it was the hosts that quickly moved into a two goal lead after some slack marking and sharp finishing. The first a smart turn and shot from the edge of the area, and the second a close range header from a corner after the Wolves defence had failed to get tight enough with their marking.

Wolves needed a quick response and were handed that after Jason Palmer ghosted in at the back post to head in from just inside the six yard box. This was followed by a strong final ten minutes of the first half from the visitors who should have equalised, having squandered a number of decent openings.

The second half began in the same fashion that the first ended, with Wolves very much in the ascendancy. Finally, after some neat interchange down the left, Ashley Smith headed in his second goal in two games to draw the visitors level. Unfortunately, with all the momentum going their way Wolves switched off and were punished by a low angled drive that beat Adam French at his near post to put St. Boniface back into the lead. In my opinion, this was the decisive moment as Wolves never really rediscovered their play after that.

The remaining time was spent with long balls being sent forward by both sides with few clear cut chances created. The final whistle signalled the end of a tough game that had seen both sides cautioned for dissent in some capacity, which put a slightly disappointing spin on the match. In terms of the football, St. Boniface were decent value for their victory for a couple of reasons: Firstly, they took their chances when presented with them and all too often good openings were being wasted by Wolves. Secondly, they defended resolutely when crosses were raining in late on and held firm against some pacey Wolves attack throughout.

From a Wolves perspective, they must learn quickly to maintain their own style of football when playing away from home and not let other teams dictate the way a match is played. They visit the same pitch next week, so will have a chance to quickly correct the mistakes they made in the second half.

Sandwell United 3 Walsall Olympic 5

It's early days yet, but this fixture does have a bit of a wooden spoon feel to it. Walsall amassed a meagre five points last year and Sandwell just four the season before.

I have only the briefest of second hand reports, in that Sandwell commendably fought back from three-nil down to eventually restore pride at five-three. Both clubs ought to take positives from the match: Walsall winning and scoring five, obviously but also Sandwell scoring three against a Walsall defence that is usually far stingier. Luke Hazlehurst on target again and is sure to feature in the Top Scorers' charts come the end of the season.

Division One

Apologies for the delay in updating the web site. Social commitments meant I was out all of Saturday and didn't return to chez nous until Sunday morning.

St. Matthew's 2 Amblecote 1

For me, this was Match of the Day as it involved the current League Champions along with two of the front runners and favourites for 2008's competition. St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls provided a report by email: Billed as an early season six-pointer, this match was never going to be an easy one. A much weakend St. Matthew's took on Amblecote and it was a battle from the off! A trademark Jadon Silva long throw-in was put in by one of our own team* to give Amblecote the lead within the first five minutes. Amblecote had the best of the early exchanges playing lots of balls over the top looking for the pace of Devonport up front but he could not get away from the St. Matthew's defence. Amblecote were restricted to shooting from range and playing the ball around in front of our back line as they continually were frustrated by the resolute nature of the St. Matthew's defending. St. Matthew's finished the half stronger and had several good chances but went in trailing at half time one-nil.

In the second half, St. Matthew's started the much brighter and equalised early on with Martin Nicholls thumping home a header from a Marvin Nisbett cross. St. Matthew's then dug deep and despite several changes and a switch of formation, Amblecote struggled to create, despite having a lot of possesion. With around twenty minutes left, Marvin Nesbitt blocked a clearance and raced through cooly lobbing the Amblecote keeper to make the score two-one. Both sides had late chances to get goals but that's the way the scores remained until the final whistle.

Amblecote's Simon Ashby also sent in a report: Mixed emotions today for the Amblecote lads, as we are all gutted that we outplayed a pretty good St. Matt's team especially in the first half, only to let two goals in after the break and leave with nothing. However we showed that every team is going to have to work hard and play very well to wrestle the title from us this year and on today’s performance we are confident of retaining the League.

As always on sloping pitches, you have to make your advantage count and kicking downhill in the first-half we got off to a great start with Shawn Devonport getting on the end of* Jadon Silva's long throw-in the first few minutes. For the next forty minutes we played some good football and could easily have had another two goals, hitting the bar and seeing chances wasted, but the St. Matt's gamble of kicking uphill paid off as they came more into the game just before half-time went in at the break just one down.

The second half was much more even, and five minutes after the break St. Matt's equalised when Marvin Nisbett put in a great cross and dangerman Nicholls got his head on the end of it. Then with a fairly balanced game developing, St. Matt's winner unfortunately had a touch of controversy about it. Following a high defensive clearance, Nisbitt, collected the ball and ran through on goal, but seemed to use his hand to put the ball into this path before lobbing it over the advancing keeper. Unfortunately there was no way the referee could have given it as he would have been unsighted, so it is one of those things and probably if were honest good forward play! If Michael Owen does it next summer I suppose we won’t complain.

Amblecote could and should have equalised with a couple of glaring chances at the end and still had a lot of the game in the second half, but it wasn’t to be and having gone unbeaten until Christmas last year this was an early sting in our tail. On today’s performance I would be surprised if both us and St. Matt's didn’t finish in the top four this season.

*The Devonport/own-goal saga will rumble on no doubt. Officially, the Club Secretary informs me on the Saturday of who scored. This is followed up in writing on the Match Report form to the League Secretary. Until we are informed otherwise, the goal's Devonport's. Ed

Chawn Hill Church 1 Rowley 3

Rowley take a not unexpected (sorry for the double-negative) early lead of WMCFL after two matches. With Rowley's Pete Bennett off applauding his students receiving their degrees at the Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton, Steve Hughes steps in with a match report: Rowley started the game in the best possible way when Craig Micklewright scored in the first thirty seconds, when the Chawn defence seemed to be slow to react. The game then seemed to be fairly end to end for the next half hour. Chawn then equalised with a thirty-yard effort which flew into the net. Chawn had a number of corners but Rowley survived with some dogged defending. Jamie Hunter was unlucky to see his extremely well struck twenty-five yard free kick ruled out due to a Rowley player standing in an offside position. The referee adjudging that he was interfering. Hunter then got his rewards with a goal, when he turned smartly to drill his shot into the corner of the net.

Rowley generally were in control in the second half going down the slope and missed several chances including a Hunter penalty kick. Ricky McLaren put the the final touch on another chance to seal the points. Chawn's closest effort came from a shot which crashed against the bar. It was a good game from Rowley's point of view, given a thin squad being available but Chawn kept playing to the end and made it a battle.

Clarendon 5 Dynamo Kingswinford 0

Clarendon move into third place with an emphatic five-nil win over Dynamo. DK's Gary Lamsdale texts: Inept, woeful performance from DK, who got exactly what they deserved. Next week's game must see a vast improvement. Great ref!

City Church 2 St. Mary's 2

City and St. Mary's share the spoils at Rowheath in a pulsating match with a dramatic finish. City's Martin Ogborne texts: We let another two goal lead slip but managed to hold on this time, even hitting the post with the last kick of the game. St. Mary's Jon Jackaman also texts: We were slow starting and conceded two sloppy goals before coming back into the game. A draw was a fair result.

-

Ed - Division One appears to be taking shape as predicted, with Rowley, St. Matt's, Clarendon and Amblecote settling into the top four places. I think we will see these four dominate procedings. Unfortunately, Sheldon are also in last place as I suggested, although they had the day off yesterday for Tim Atkins' wedding. I'm sure you'll all join me in wishing Tim and the new Mrs Atkins all the very best.

Back to football: Next week St. Matthew's entertain Rowley College in the next 'six-pointer' as the top two clash. Will Rowley's luck run out after having to face the St. Matt's front line or will they still be on top next Saturday night?

Division Two

Sandwell United 1 St. Thomas' Aldridge 5

As it turned out, this results means that St. Thomas' went to the top of the table on goal-difference rather than on alphabetical rank. I was later told that Aldridge St. Thomas' had reverted to St. Thomas' Aldridge, thus I robbed King's of a week at the top. And Sandwell find themselves at the bottom afetr two weeks, also on goal-difference.

A Mark Hadden hat-trick combined with one each from Joe Lister and Darren Smail put paid to the challenge set by Sandwell. However a Scott Snow wonder goal was probably pick of the game. Having watched Scott a couple of times, I have to say that I think he will turn into one of the better players that have graced the WMCFL. Like many players his age, he just need a bit more power which will come in time so long as he looks after himself.

Bilston Beacons 2 Walsall Olympic 1

Bilston make it two out of two with another two-one win, this time against Walsall. The result leaves them in second after to matches on maximum points. Andy Massey from Walsall texted:A game of two halves again (I love that cliche - Ed), but the improvement in spirit and performance compared with last year is superb. Well done to both teams.

One day Walsall will start winning games by the odd goal instead of losing them all. - Ed

Halsowen Zion 2 King's AFC 2

In my book, this tie was probably between two of the Division's top teams. We'll see later on as things begin to pan out. It's now five seasons since these two clubs went head to head for the Division One title and I can see history repeating itself. Halesowen's Jon Lea has kindly put together a report: After a hard fought game at Dudley Wood, both teams came away with a point each. In truth, a fair result for both teams who are sure to be there or there abouts come the end of the season.

After a blistering start, Halesowen took the lead via Tom Doran, our forward who is on fire at the minute. After beating the offside trap and rounding the goalkeeper, all that was needed was for Tom to slide the ball into the open net. Halesowen maintained the momentum, until a lack of concentration in our own box led to our inspirational leader John Williams giving away a penalty courtesy of a bear hug on the Kings centre forward. one-one, cue the fireworks. The next twenty minutes was end to end, Halesowen pushing forward with King's hitting us on the break. King's certainly made their physical presence felt and after thrity-five minutes took the lead with scrappy goal mouth scramble goal. Both teams left the field at half time with contrasting emotions, King's buyont, Halesowen deflated.

However, they say football is a game of two halves (Andy Massey does anyway and he should know - Ed), and that was certainly the case in this game. Halesowen started slowly, allowing the King's centre forward to miss a glorious opportunity early on, but soon fought back. After gaining the upper hand in all areas, especially down the left-hand side and in the middle, Halesowen pushed forward, hitting the bar and post twice apiece. Who ever said the Doran brothers could finish?! After an hour, Tom once again found space in the King's box, and duely accepted the gift by sliding the ball home into the bottom corner. Fifteen minutes later the referee brought to the end and very physical hard fought battle.

Halesowen manager Dave Walters also chips in: A tough game. We took an early lead through some nice play between the Doran twins with Tom finishing off the move for his second of the season. We were looking comfortable when we conceded a soft penalty which was well put away to even the scores. King's then took advantage of a defensive rehash due to our right back Nick Bennett substituted because of injury and went into a two-one lead at the half time interval.

The second half I thought we came out and played some good stuff and a flowing attack saw Tom Doran again on the mark for the second goal. After the goal we went close a few times hitting the bar and post twice, although Kings were always a threat with the long ball. In the end I suppose a draw was a fair result, but why do I feel disappointed we did not take 3 points?

And last but not least, the aformentioned bear-hugging John Williams from Halesowen adds his observations: After a conversation with Jallen earlier in the week and a spectator informing me that the King's team talk focussed on lumping the ball into our box, we knew to prepare for a long ball onslaught, accompanied by King's usual pace and strength.

We defended fairly deep, as to limit space for the King's forwards to run into and started the game the brighter, getting ball down to feet and using the full width of the Dudley Wood pitch to our advantage. As usual the pace and guile of Tom Doran and Steven Cockroft caused huge problems for the opposition defence and when Tom got his first goal of the day, I think we were probably guilty of taking our foot off the gas a little. Things changed mid-way through the half, as a King's striker broke through the centre and I made a hash of my first attempt at a clearance, resulting in a rather agricultural challenge (ursine - Ed) which saw me give away the first penalty of my career. (Not too bad a record for a 29 year old full back, maybe I’m picking up Jon Nott’s mantle in more ways than one). (You'll be booking folks next - Ed). The resulting spot kick was dispatched with aplomb, and heads dropped, mine included. After a goalmouth scramble and several missed chances to clear the ball, a shot that rolled agonisingly inside Chris Noon’s far post saw us go behind. Not long after, things went from bad to worse, as right back Nick Bennett, last year's manager's player of the season, was victim of an above the ankle challenge which caused him to leave the pitch and may see him out of action for a while. Lance Cartwright took Nick’s place in the team as we hung on nervously for the remainder of a physical first half.

After the break we came out stronger. The wings were utilised well, as Ben Doran and Nathan Harold restored the width of the opening period of the first half. A better performance saw normality resume, with Tom Doran putting away his second of the game. Zion pressure ensued, the frame of the goal denying all three of the Doran brothers at various times. Unfortunately, three bookings marred the end of what had been a hard fought and physical game, but at the final whistle most of the lads agreed that the point was probably a good result against a team we don’t expect to be giving too many away in this division. The result leaves us unbeaten this year, pre-season included, but under no illusions that we still have much work to do in order to be at our best.

St. Boniface 2 Selly Oak Methodist 4

A few months' ago, I thought this match would have been a basement job, but these two clubs have made some significant progress over the past weeks. Selly Oak's Jamie Williams provides the report: This game was entertaining as well as hard fought. Within the first five minutes the Boniface keeper pulled off a cracking save off my shot which was heading for the top corner. But after we piled on the pressure Hadi opening the scoring with a volley from the edge of the box, then Rhyan Anderson from the corner, then Sean Burke beat the left back for pace and placed it bottom corner. The St. Boniface keeper continued to excel himself and if it wasn't for him we could have gone in went in for the break five or six goals up. But the second half was different and they put a lot more pressure on us and pulled one back before we then scored a scrappy goal for four-one and a couple minutes from time our keeper made a blunder punching it in his own net. Apart from that he had a very good game.

Nevertheless, Selly Oak go into next week's game with leaders St. Thomas' unbeaten. Ed

E K Corinthia 1 Zion Athletic 3

The other Zion: Athletic quietly went about their business, bringing EK down to earth after their promising start to the season. Sean Philpotts, James Toomey and Jordan Griffiths all on target for ZA with Chris Morrison the only reply for EK.

Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 4 Brierley Hill AOG 0

W&P also put last week's disappointment behind them with a sound four-nil win at home to Brierley Hill. Wolves' Tom Baugh emailed a match report: After a disappointing first game of the season, Wolves & Perton got their campaign up and running with a convincing victory over a plucky Brierley Hill outfit.

Despite the result never really being in doubt after Olly stabbed home the first goal from close range on the hour, it’s worth remembering that Brierley Hill put up stern resistance for much of the match and kept on going, right to the final kick. It’s certainly refreshing to play against a side that doesn’t fall apart like a pack of cards, and Brierley Hill’s character will certainly serve them well over the course of the season.

From a Wolves perspective, the performance and result were just what the doctor ordered. I don’t think it’s an unfair appraisal of the game to say that much of it was played in the home side's attacking third, aside from some dangerous set pieces from the visitors.

The scoring was opened by Oliver Jones, when he latched onto a deep cross and poked the ball past the advancing keeper. That description probably doesn’t do justice to what was a neat bit of skill to bring the ball down and score after an expertly timed run had left him all alone in the six yard box. The midfielder’s goal brought tangible relief to a side that was struggling for cutting edge. It was almost fitting when the same player put the result beyond doubt with a sublime second goal. I don’t think any other player on the pitch would have had the confidence or awareness to loft the ball over a goalkeeper who hadn’t previously ventured further than a foot from his goal line. It’s become a staple part of every Wolves season to sit back and admire a fantastic goal from Olly, and I think everyone has high hopes he can rack up a significant tally this season.

Third and fourth goals eventually came from Iain Wright and Ashley Smith respectively as Wolves pushed on with their attacking style of play. The former smashing in from close range after the ball broke to him inside a crowded area, and the latter neatly slotting home late on after his young legs took him clear of a tiring defence.

I am taking part in the Great North Run on the 30th September in which I will attempt to make it around the 13.1 mile course from Newcastle to South Shields. I am running on behalf of The Parkinson's Disease Society (which will also involve me needing to wear a bright pink running vest!!)

I have set up an online sponsorship form and the link is below, if you also provide your address and postcode the charity will also be able to claim gift aid.

www.justgiving.com/martinglasspole

Many thanks, Martin Glasspole (Renewal Solihull)

Photos from Saturday

A comination of the recurrence of my knee injury and not yet being fully qualified to referee kept me out of action last week-end. I utilised the time to take a few shots at the matches down at South Road, the ground nearest where I live.

To view the montage, please click here

Also, new club photos of St. Matthew's and Chawn Hill are on their club pages. I couldn't line up Brierley Hill and Selly Oak in time.

Division One

Sheldon 0 Amblecote 7

Amblecote banish any doubts they had with a secure performance to put them straight on top of the League. A Devonport hat-trick puts him on top of the goal-scorers' charts too, so normal service is resumed. Amblecote took advantage of a couple of lucky breaks to give them a two-nil lead into the interval. A Sheldon player was dismissed shortly after the break and Amblecote hit the afterburners given the extra space. I think the nil was far more significant than the seven.

Renewal Solihull 3 Dynamo Kingswinford 5

Dynamo storm back into Division One with an eight goal thriller in this week's only afternoon kick-off at Solihull. DK's Gary Lamsdale texts: A great win for DK against a tall Solihull side who struggled against our pacy forwards. Two debatable penalties and a glut of great goals made for an entertaining start to the season.

Solihull's Brian Follows responds: A horror show from Bentley Heath Solihull. We were in front early from a corner then we conceded a penalty from which Renewal never recovered. We were second best to some sharp attacking play from Dynamo.

Chawn Hill Church 0 St. Matthew's 2

Match report provided by St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls: The first game of the season is always tricky and we started at the infamous South Road. Chawn perhaps had the better of the early exchanges as they pumped ball after ball in to the Saints back line which held firm. A Pete Davis throw in was deflected in to his on net by a Chawn defender to give us a one-nil half time lead. The second half was a bit scrappy and Marvin Nisbett broke through the Chawn defence to make sure of the win with around twenty minutes to go. A hard earned win to start the season.

Incidentally, Amblecote travel to St. Matthew's next Saturday morning. It may be a little early to be talking about six-pointers, but these two clubs are first and second. Ed

City Church 3 Rowley College 4

Rowley's Pete Bennett writes: Well, our games against City Church are always eventful but what a difference a summer makes! Technically it has only been four games since Rowley and City contested the Second Division Championship in a match that was one of the best we’ve been involved in. Today the same two clubs, though with significantly weaker line-ups offered up a match that, though entertaining lacked a little in terms of quality. The problem was that both sides had notable absentees and were already finding their resources stretched: In Rowley’s case this was partly a matter of fitness and in City’s needing to call on a number of youngsters. We were pleased, I’d have to admit to register the absence of Louis Quaintance and Carl McKenna and for the first ten minutes it seemed that City might wilt without their star names. We passed the ball well and debutant Phil Warner hit a post (with the goal open in the second minute) and there a couple of other near misses.

However from that point on City came back with a vengeance, pinning us back in our own half and forcing us to knock long balls that left our fulcrum Southall with little to do but watch (and moan). Their centre backs, Neil Millard and Ross Fitall were excellent keeping our forwards in check and they got more and more dangerous playing down the slope. They hit the post and had a number of near misses before half time. Our only real chance in the rest of that half was an Alan Micklewright one on one which he disappointingly lifted over the bar.

Thus we were frustrated at half time (and tired and fractious). We resolved to show greater patience down the slope and to pass it rather than chase it. The early signs were bright but before we’d realized this City took the lead from a terrific finish from Sean McKenna. A couple of substitutions gave us fresh legs but we were still labouring football wise and on the hour McKenna struck again. For five minutes it seemed the game was over: we were on the ropes and arguing and there for the taking. Luckily we held on, regrouped and began to exert some pressure.

I suspect City started to drop a little deeper (as you do) and this gave room for Southall to get on the ball. With twenty minutes to go Alan Micklewright nipped in to halve the arrears. He’d moved to the right when Ricky McLaren came on and when their left back had to leave he suddenly seemed to acquire more space against the stand-in. The pressure was now building on their defence with the centre halves having to cover wide more regularly. A cross from Craig Micklewright found his brother back post and Alan finished emphatically. I clocked this as eighty minutes and we were relieved: What followed was surreal. In a last ten minutes that seemed to last nearer twenty we took the lead (delirium), lost it (depression) and then finally snatched it. Three-two involved Southall’s sure pass, Craig Micklewright’s drawing of the keeper and rolling it goalwards and Jamie Hunter following it in. Then Sean McKenna knocked in a direct free-kick before Jamie Hunter rose like a ‘gangsta’ salmon to head home the winner. From our point of view a valuable three points but very hard on City Church.

Clarendon 1 St. Mary's 1

St. Mary's may be the more disappointed of the two clubs as Jon Jackaman missed a penalty. Clarendon's Louis Williams texted 'It's good to be back'. Nick Sprason responds 'A draw was fair' and 'The referee was excellent'.

Division Two

Aldridge St. Thomas' 5 St. Boniface 3

Having twenty-one players available, I had the tricky decision of whittling the squad down to sixteen! A poor first half from St. Boniface saw the better team on the day walk off with the points. We started well, but conceded a goal to Mark Hadden, who turned me twice before placing a shot past Jim Grey in goal. Jim made about four outstanding saves in the first half. The veteran Mark Hughes, keeping his place despite some impressive pre-season perormances from new signings, scored an equaliser with a deft header from a superb Levi Preston cross. Some poor defending from set pieces saw St. Thomas' race into a four-one lead at half time, being the first to react to situation and second balls.

Obi up front was looking slightly rusty having spent most of the summer back home in Nigeria, but St Boniface galvanised themselves at half time, and despite conceding a soft goal when our off side trap was sprung by a late run from midfield, improved immensely after the break. The loss of Tim Adams with a knee injury was disappointing but tempered somewhat by the magnificent performance of debutant sub Matt Mogg* in central midfield. We worked hard, tightened up at the back and began asking questions of the Orange defence. A goal was pulled back when Captain Cliff was rewarded with a raiding run from left back with a return pass finding him inside the area. Instead of shooting, he slipped the ball inside to Obi who smashed the ball home from twelve yards. A third goal soon followed with a looping header from Matt Adams, playing at right back, and indeed, he could have had a quick second when putting a left foot shot over the bar when well placed. That would have made things very tight for St. Thomas' with five minutes remaining but it wasn't to be.

On the plus side, we played well in the second half, scored three goals and have now taken the honour from Sheldon (I read one of the Atkins's has retired) of having three siblings playing in the same team! On the "things to do side" we need to defend a lot better than we did in the first half.

*A couple of editorial notes. Hi Matt, nice to see you've settled in at St. Boniface. Matt emailed me a few months ago asking if I knew of a club that would like to sign him. I placed an ad in this column and he was obviously quickly snapped up by the eagled-eyed Adams. Agreat thing the internet. Ed

King's AFC 5 Zion Athletic 3

King's stake their claim for a quick return to Division One with another five-three score-line. Strictly speaking King's and St. Thomas' are equal top after one week. I have put Aldridge St. Thomas' as top as they are earlier in the alphabet. Then Rob Hill told me that they'd changed their name back to St. Thomas' Aldridge.

Seriously, it will be interesting to see who comes out on top of that battle as the weeks go by. There are many contenders for promotion and I think that St. Thomas' and King's will be on the front row.

Bilston Beacons 2 Sandwell United 1

An Ashley Hamer double secures victory for a restructured Bilston Beacons on the opening day of the season. Luke Hazlehurst returns to Sandwell United and scores, but the points go to Bilston.

E K Corinthia 2 Walsall Olympic 1

E K Corinthia start their WMCFL life with a win, also two-one. EK's Secretary Chris Morrison emailed a report: EK dominated in the first half and really should have put the game well beyond Walsall. We could have been four or five up but Walsall kept EK out and the score was two-nil at half time.

EK's first goal came from Steve Harper. A great shot from twenty-five yards out leaving Walsall's keeper no chance. The second came from Chris Morrison and there is a debate for which was the better goal. The ball was floated into the box which Chris met on the turn and fired in to the net. (I'm trying not to be biased!!!) During the second half and EK looked unsteady with continued pressure from Walsall. A corner was met by a Walsall player unmarked and they got one back. If Walsall had scored early on things may have turned out differently!

Halesowen Zion 2 Wolverhampton and Perton Churches 1

A good win for Halesowen from another two teams you would expect to be joining the promotion push.

Brierley Hill 1 Selly Oak Methodist 1

Selly Oak's Rob O'Neill emails: A good start to the season against Brierley Hill who can be very unpredictable: Beat the leaders one week then lose to bottom the next.

We had a bare eleven and so had to work hard dominating much of the first half using our pace and a great partnership of Michael Knowles and Nathaniel Regisford splitting the defence on several occasions. A mention must be made to Brierley Hill’s keeper (Carl Wakelam - top chap - Ed) who I believe was a last minute stand in but played well claiming the ball on quite a few one on one situations. Brierley's goal came from a close and debatable off-side decision. As four players broke though and sprung the trap in a tight group, the ball was headed in just below the crossbar.

The second half was a bit more even but we managed to spurn a few chances before a pressure finally paid off. Brierley's defender, under pressure from our strikers, tried to head the ball wide but managed to guide the it past the keeper into the far corner. This raised our hopes of snatching three points and we put the ball in the back of the net again only to see a late linesman’s flag raised. From where I was standing I thought we were onside but these decisions usually level out over the season. Credit to Brierley and the ref (Dave Walker) as the game was played competitively but in good spirits.

I feel we should maybe have used the pressure more and claimed three points but am very happy to take a just one from Brierley on the first day of the season. All the team played well and am already looking forward to the local derby next week against St. Boniface.

Brierley Hill's Jonathan Bingham reponds: With Ed's pre-season prediction pinned up on the dressing room wall, there was no need for much of a team talk today (That's the spirit - Ed). We battled hard in a close and competetive match against a strong Selly Oak team. Key man Carl Wakelam did particularly well in goal, his sheer size being enough to frighten the oncoming forwards. We went into the lead against the run of play, a mix up in the Selly Oak defence resulting in a scappy headed goal. We faded in the last twenty minutes and eventually fell to the pressure with one of our players bulleted a header into his own net. Selly Oak are a much better team than last year, in particular they had a new player in defence who in only about 5'7 but can leap like a salmon. (Samuel Makele). I'd be suprised if they finished below mid table. We'll be happy to finish above twelfth and hopefully hustle a win or two against one of the top teams!

Well that's all folks for this week. Quite a contribution from many willing participants. If you want to write a report, please email it to me at edwalker30@hotmail.com I'll do my best to include it.

We're missing quite a few faces in the scorers page too. Please send in photos. Many thanks to those that have already. Ed

Friendlies

With just a week to go until the big kick off, here are some reports from the friendly matches that took place today:

St. Matthew's played St. Thomas' in a close fought affair. Somewhat against the run of play, Ricky Roberts opened the scoring with a thumping header from smart free kick. Pete Davis got the second before St T's scored to make the half time score two-one to us. A much more disciplined and organised second half performance saw St. Matthew's score another two to make the final score four-one. Ricky Roberts got the third before Marvin Nisbett got the fourth.

Friendly result: King's three, Clarendon one. A hard fought and well contested match played in the sunshine at Saltley with neither side giving any quarter. Nil-nil at half time. After the break, Andre Johnson scored twice for Kings to make it two-nil to King's. Clarendon pulled one back to make it tense near the end and were unlucky not to score another but for their forwards straying offside. King's then won a free kick just out side the box. Adam Ricketts floated the ball to the far post and Tim Oruye headed home. If King's can continue the season with this combative attitude they will be back in the First Division.

Another good workout for W&P as they draw four-all with Dynamo. W&P's keeper and secretary Richard Webster texts: Pleased with the goals, but not the ones we conceded. A few creases to iron out before next week-end, but plenty to be happy with.

Jadon Silva texts: Amblecote four, Brierley Hill one. Ralph Macchio with a hat-trick.

I had the pleasure of refereeing Rowley for the second week running; this week's match was against Haleswen Zion. Clearly Rowley were a little rusty as this was their first proper get together. Halesowen ran out four-one winners. The opener was almost a carbon copy of the first goal that England conceded against Germany in mid-week. Although it was Nic Hadley in goal for Rowley, who can be excused for not getting to the mid-placed cross. Halesowen went two-up with a flick header off a deep cross, before Rowley pulled one back.

Later on in the second half, Nic attempted to set his left-back on the way with a throw which didn't reach it's destination. The ball came back into the Rowley area and found it's way into the net. The Halesowen forward finishing from eight yards. Halesowen completed their win with a weak shot that bobbled and beat the second Rowley stand-in keeper.

We can look at the outcome of the match in a couple of ways: It was Rowley's first real match together and they still have more quality players to come in. If they'd have had their regular keeper available, the number of goals conceded would have been less, possibly three less. However, on the other side of the coin, I chalked off a Halesowen goal for hand-ball and Steve Cockcroft set up a Halesowen player for a sitter that I'm sure he would rather I didn't mention as he ballooned the ball over from eight yards. So it could easily have been six. Combine that with the eight-seven win against Amblecote last Saturday and Zion must be looking forward to the start of the season. They looked strong throughout their ranks, with the aformentioned Cockcroft sharp up front. Rowley were not as bad as the scoreline suggests, but they will need to improve if they are to beat City Church next week.

Friendlies

Just a couple of friendly reports to catch up on: Firstly, Dynamo played last Monday night away at Halesowen Zion. Gary Lamsdale emails: The game was played on a small pitch and as such the quality of football suffered at times due to a lack of space. However this was our first run our of the season and a chance for a few trialists to stake their claim as well as a time to try out some players in different positions. DK started quite well with the returning Richard Gould, keen to make an impact on his debut and seeing plenty of ball in the early exchanges. We had an early set back with centre back Wildsmith dislocating his shoulder in the fifteenth minute. This saw us switch Rob Waddams into the middle, who went on to have a superb game in this unfamiliar position. Zion also had plenty of ball and looked lively going forward. However it was DK that broke the deadlock on twelve minutes when Price slotted home at the far post after good work from Aston and Gould. With the industry of Andy Waddams and Hodgetts in the middle and Abel and Price on the wings, things looked positive for DK as half time came.

DK made seven second half changes (seven changes! Rowley only had six players last week-end - Ed) and Zion made the most of this with two quickly taken goals. The first came after hesitation in the centre of the defence and the second after a comedy of errors. Fair play to Zion however as they began to boss the midfield after the loss of Hodgetts after an elbow to the head which cost him a tooth and Yates who may have broken a bone in his foot! Yates however persisted up front for a while and grabbed DK's equaliser on eighty minutes, drilling low into the corner of the goal from ten yards.

The final score was two-all. A rusty start for DK who take on W&P on Saturday with Sweetmore back from his holiday. Zion look like they will be there or there a bouts again next year. Cheers to Dave Walters for reffing and not laughing as I sliced the ball out of play with my first touch of the ball!!

-

A late report from last week's pages finally makes it onto the site. Sorry Jason for the delay: Bilston finally look like they are gelling with the new line-up. Barely five minutes gone when one of the new signings, Stuart Bucknell raced on to a through ball from Stu Winters to put the Beacons one-nil up, firing past a rookie keeper. Fifteen minutes later and again Bucknell raced through this time from a Rogers through ball and lofted it over the keeper to make it two.

It was twenty-five minutes in before St. Mary's had their first attempt when Andy Beeson slotted a clever ball through only for Alex Westwood to deflect over the bar. St. Mary's again created another chance when their midfielder put Jon Jackaman through but a tackle by Jay Jackson prevented a certain goal. Beeson again the thorn in Bilston's side when he sprung the offside trap which Beacons had played superply all game to make it two-one. Bucknell created havoc again and again and Winters on the left looked superb when he crossed for Bucknell to get his third to leave it three-one at half time.

Ryan and Stu Rogers played a great game in the middle of the park and kept St. Mary's at bay for the majority of the game but changes and injuries took there toll on Beacons and eventually St. Mary's scored a second. Sloppy marking from the defence let in St. Mary's again for the equaliser. Bilston thought we had won it when Bucknell had his fourth cancelled out because of offfside. A great game enjoyed by all. Bilston were a little annoyed that they threw it away.

Jason Jackson - Bilston Beacons

Friendly

A 1-1 draw between St Thomas Aldridge and City Church. Hard fought game. Friendly? What friendly? City one up at the break, Preece header brought the game level in second half. Good workout for both sides. St Thomas roll-on, roll-off substituions would have put Sven's England friendlies to shame.

Friendly matches

Plenty of friendlies to report on from yesterday. Many thanks to those that reported in. I'm sure you'll agree that it make for interesting reading. There are a few comments of 'don'tread too much into the result', which is understandable at this stage as most teams are weakened by the holiday absenses. I managed to get a couple of snaps of the clubs I refereed for. Check out the new photos on Sheldon and EK Corinthia's home pages. If you know who is who on the pages, then please email me at the address on the home page. If anyone wants the original of the photos, I can send it to you. I shink the images down considerably for the site.

First up was a text from W&P's Richard Webster: Chawn Hill Church two Wolverhampton & Perton Churches four. A good run-out for both sides, with Chawn especially missing players. W&P came back from two down to secure a friendly victory. The new players slotted in well, so a positive start for us.

A very brief text from Bilston ever-green Dek Dudfield: Bilston three, St. Mary's three. I understand that Bilston lead three-one at one point, but had to settle for a draw as the more experienced St. Mary's closed out the match.

Halesowen's Jon Lea reported by email: "It's Raining goals as Halesowen beat Amblecote in drenched Dell". In what was depressing early season weather, Halesowen Zion suprisingly beat League Division One Champions Amblecote in an entertaining pre season friendly eight-seven.With a number of changes on Zion's side, losing both Lee Ralph and Richard Gould in the close season, Halesowen began sprightly much to the suprise of the Champions. Rumour has it that a somewhat lackadaisical attitude has crept in at Amblecote. On the basis of the first thirty minutes of play, few could argue. Dave Atton, playing at left back commented that Zion "started like a bullet from a gun" which certainly seem to take Amblecote by suprise.

Halesowen's first goal came from Ben Doran, a long throw from "key man" Steven Cockcroft, was flicked on, controlled elegantly by Doran, and smashed into the roof of the net via the cross bar. Our second, again from Ben Doran, was an esquisite twenty-yard chip courtesy of a long ball by right back, Nicky Bennett. With only eight minutes on the clock, I think Halesowen were nearly as surprised as Amblecote! It seems that all the hard work put in by Zion pre season has paid off. Shortly after, another cross from the left led to a goal mouth scramble that eventually put the ball on Tom Doran's head, who returned the gesture by making it three. On the twenty minute mark, new recruit Ryan was slipped through and dinked over the keeper to make it four-nil. All in all the Dell was in shock. Within minutes however, Amblecote showed they are no pushovers with a slick move to pull one back. A crazy two minutes led to another goal by Top Scorer, Devonport, with a shot that really should have been saved by a Chilavertesq Chris Noon. Both teams played attractive football, at a fast pace for pre season, and normality was resumed when Cocky made it five-two at the interval.

After the break the midfield industry of Chris Bennett and Jon Lea led to Cocky being scythed down in the box. Cue Noony (playing in goal) to run the full length of the pitch and smash the resulting penalty straight down the centre. For some reason, Amblecote suddenly woke up, with a midfield trio of Lee Ralph, Jadon Silva and Tim Fellows overunning the Zion midfield. The wounded animal bared its teeth, scoring four in ten minutes. Suprised? We certainly were! With the game tied at seven-all, it was left to Zion to hit the resulting winner, following a slick passing move.

All in all, a very valuable, enjoyable and satisfying win for Zion in their first pre season friendly.

St. Matthew's Martin Nicholls reports: Another friendly today and a close combative encounter saw St. Matthew's beat Kings two-one. We took the lead after King's keeper failed to hold on to a Pete Davies free kick and the ball ended up in the net. Marvin Nesbitt then scored to double our advantage before half time. We went in two-nil up. After the break energy levels fell and tempers flared. King's had a player sent off after they reduced our lead. The final score was two-one to St. Matthew's.

Selly Oak's Jamie Williams chips in by email on their match with Walsall Olympic: A wet day but a good result for Selly Oak, as they ended up six-one winners in a rain-soaked match. Mike Knowles started the scoring from the spot, then the second went in shortly after. Walsall scored with a well taken header to leave the scores tight at two-one at half time. All one way traffic in the second half Laurence Belgrave scored a hat-trick with Mike Knowles picking up another. The six goals we scored could and should have been much more as we wasted chance after chance... Also, I have to give the entire Selly Oak team a mention because everyone played a blinder. Especially Mozza at right back and Makelele in the centre.

Then there were the two I refereed: Rowley College nil, Sheldon four. A bit disappointing from Rowley's perspective, but a good run-out for Sheldon. Rowley only managed to muster five and a mate and so had to borrow all of Sheldon's spares. So, the result was a little predictable: Sheldon coasted to an easy win. Having predicted Sheldon would come bottom of the Division, you can imagine the feedback I got from the Sheldon boys. One of many corrections to the 'Key Players' in my predictions is that Matthew Atkins has retired, at least for the time-being. He's up to his neck in family, work and church commitments. The other two Atkins boys had a quiet game. It was Brett Horobin who made the most of the acres of space on the wing, Josh Lea imperious in defence and a fellow I didn't recognise at number seventeen, who played alongside Nathan in centre midfield that impressed me.

Sheldon will need to secure their chances if they are not to play out my forecast. However, they may have used up some of the bad luck that afflicts us all from time to time, having hit the bar and post a total of five times.

Lastly, EK Corinthia took on a David Lloyd XI in torrential conditions over at the Pavillion. Whilst the rain was heavy, the pitch and the facilities were superb at EK's new ground. The combination of lots of rain over the summer and the fact that in general people are kept off the private amienity has ensured that the grass is in excellent nick, as it should be at this time of year. It would make a superb venue for our semi-finals; I'll be making enquiries.

Without being disrespectful to EK or WMCFL, the David Lloyd team were several classes above anything you will meet in this League. The match started at a blistering and bruising pace, with both teams keen to assert themselves. Eventually, David Lloyd managed to take a two-nil lead into the half-time interval. The first through one of those long-range free-kicks that was expertly floated to the far post, bouncing just in front of the keeper through a melee of heads and legs and going straight in. The second was pure class: The ball way spilled to a DL player, twenty yards out who made no mistake, thumping it into the net. At this point, I did think that the game was going to run away from EK, but they took their break, regrouped and excelled themselves in the second half. DL were contained, with all players playing their part and pulling one back early on. The high tempo and the rain took its toll and the game slowed later on. EK can hold their heads high and take many positives from a game that was an unequal match of talent and fitness. I may eat my words in predicting EK were only to finish seventh. If they were a little more clinical in front of goal, then they may have sneaked a late draw.

Player of the Year

We've been running Player of the Year now for three seasons and it's proved to be quite popular. It does however, rely on co-operation of all clubs secretaries and a lot of hard work behind the scenes. It works like this:

After every match, the secretary of the club selects a player from the opposition whom he thinks deserves a man of the match award. He then notes the shirt number of that player and submits the match report form to the League Secretary. The League Secretary then collates the votes. At the end of the season, we have been picking the top six players from each division and inviting them to the awards night where the winners are announced. What I found is that if a club has one outstanding player, then they are more likely to get nominated.

Good luck!

Ed's Predictions:

I have been doing a light-hearted commentary on these pages for a few years, including reviews and predictions that many of you seem to like. So here goes for 2007/8.

Best of luck everybody.

Link to Ed's Predictions for 2007/8

If you would like to add to the Key Players section or advise me that a player has moved on, please email me.

St Boniface 3- 3 Village XI

Another testing game against a team from the upper echelons of the AFA. St Boniface struggled for rhythm in the first half, with a tendency to play too many high and hopeful balls, but there were glimpses of the football we believe ourselves capable of playing, including a fine cross from Yeomans that Leghorn was unfortunate to head wide from a good position. St Boniface were a goal behind at half time when a mix-up yards from goal allowed a Village midfielder a little too much time and space to pick a pass into the area, and Matt Adams, in making a last ditch interception watched as the ball sailed over Rob Seward in the St Boniface goal.

After half time, St Boniface raised the tempo and worked hard to play some good football using pace and ability down the wings and the equaliser arrived from good vision by Mark Kenkre at centre back, setting Paul Yeomans free to finish with a smart lob. St Boniface quickly went two-one then three-one into the lead, first with a long free-kick from Simon Adams which found Paul Cliff unmarked at the back post to rifle home with his right foot. Then a long kick from Seward, flicked on by the veteran Mark Hughes, on as a sub, was taken at pace on the chest by Levi Preston cutting in from his new position on the left and finishing with some power with a crisp left foot shot. As is often the case, complacency seemed to set in and first Village striker Jon Small was allowed to run free and round Rob Seward and reduce the arrears, quickly followed by a lack of marking allowing a Village midfielder to curl a shot past a the helpless Seward to make the score three-three.

And that’s how it ended. Preston had a good shout for a late penalty turned down when contact was definite and a goal-kick rather puzzlingly signalled – our view being that the defender must have made contact with either the ball or the player, but hey, it’s only a friendly. We can look back on these first two friendlies with confidence at having competed and played well for large parts of the game.

Many thanks to St. Boniface's Simon Adams for the report - I'm pretty sure that Village are the team that feature quite heavily in the Birmingham County Saturday Junior Cup that WMCFL teams enter sporadically.

More Friendly Results

With the WMCFL season kicking off in just three weeks time, the friendly matches are coming in thick and fast. I reffed two yesterday and two others responded to my invitation to chip in with reports:

Firstly, Nick Sprason writes about the match between local rivals, St. Mary's and St. Thomas'. The two teams have swapped players between themselves a plenty over the years, so I'm sure the air was thick was friendly banter. Nick reports: We won three-two with goals from Andy Beeson, Leigh Watts and Jon Bignell. St Toms' dominated the opening exchanges and it was against the run of play when we took the lead through Beeson. We were three-nil up after half an hour and cruising despite not really going through the gears. St T's reduced the arrears following some sloppy defending to make it three-one through Matt Brady and with twenty-five minutes to go, the tracksuit bottom wearing substitute goal keeper (now playing right midfield following Jon Clement's departure) popped up at the back post to make matters more interesting. The heat had taken its toll and the scoring had ended. As ever in August, both sides were missing several players. I wish St. Thomas' all the best in the coming season.

Next up, Martin Nicholls writes in about their match with EKC: We played our first friendly of the season today, against new boys EK Corinthia. A close twenty minutes or so ended when Marvin Nesbitt scored to put us one nil up. He went on to add another three before half time to make it four-nil to us. The second half was also pretty one-sided. We squandered several good chances in both halves and restricted EK to shots from range. The match ended seven-nil to St Matt's with Marvin scoring all our goals. What's more remarkable is that myself and Paul Beagen between us managed to keep a clean sheet! (I assume Mart and Paul took turns in goal for St. Matthew's-Ed).

Then there were the two I officiated in: The morning kick-off saw Amblecote dispatch Zion Athletic eight-four. Zion are still, in general, quite a young team and I'm sure will make a great side once they fill out a bit. Zion gave Amblecote a game for a significant stretch of the match. I think it was only two or three-one at half time. At six-one Amblecote took their foot off the pedal, having done the damage; I don't think the midday sun helped and the ref was wondering how on earth he was going to cope with another ninety.

The afternoon match saw Selly Oak Methodist pitted against Chawn Hill at a Selly Oak Hospital Social Club pitch. A lovely setting surrounded by trees, undergrowth and bordered by an abundance of low fences with the obvious consequences. Selly Oak have signed a number of players whose addition has changed the complexion of the side. If this team turns up every week, they are going to be much closer to the top than the bottom of the table.

It was a lively match on a small pitch, similar in size to Chawn's own South Road. It was end-to-end stuff from the off, but it was Chawn that took the lead from a well-worked move that saw Lee Duckmanton slotting home from the edge of the box with a low snap-shot into the bottom left corner. Selly Oak rocked for a few minutes and then hit back just before half time. Selly Oak were unlucky not to be ahead as Mike Kain pulled off a couple of great saves in the Chawn goal. Again, the sun took its toll and the match slowed down in the second half, but not before Chawn scored the winner. The finish was a little fortunate as the Chawn forward's shot had been saved, the richochet ending up in the net, but the build up was was far from it. It was a close match, played in summer heat that could have gone either way. The First Division side shading the result, perhaps a little more experience tipping the scales.

I don't usual make bold statements on this site, but I will make an exception today: Tracey and Jon Earp have left Selly Oak because of the unacceptable behaviour of some people connected to the club. I am told that the referee was threatened during the course of the last week's match. WMCFL will not tolerate this kind of behaviour towards towards anyone, let alone match officials and will take firm and appropriate action. At least half a dozen clubs have been told to leave the League over the last few seasons because of similar incidents. Our experience as a Committee is that the best course of action is to expel the clubs as quickly as possible when this type of activity takes place before things escalate. Be warned!

If you would like to write a report of a friendly match and get it published here, please email me at edwalker30@hotmail.com

Friendly Result

St Boniface 1-5 Flamengo

A really tough opening fixture against a team from the Birmingham AFA Division 1, so close to being a top amateur side. They play really good football and are strong in all departments, as you would expect from a team that high up the amateur pyramid. We started off really well with two debutants in the side (John Deakin and the returning Matt Adams). A goalless first half was punctuated by a Jim Leghorn turn and shot that was cleared off the line, and a Paul Cliff header from Levi Preston's throw-in, that was over the bar. Flamengo had chances which were dealt with by a smart double save from Jim Gray in the St B's goal. A raft of St Boniface changes at half time and during the second half turned the game in the last half hour when some disarray and "risk-taking behaviour" in the St Boniface defence was punished by quality foward play by Flamengo giving them a 2-0 lead. Levi Preston's perseverance in the midfield was rewarded with a ball to debutant Chris Dowen on the edge of the Flamengo area, and he turned and lashed a shot over the keeper into the back of the net to cap a just reward for an industrious debut. Further lapses in concentration and communication in a rookie and much changed St Boniface back four, allowed Flamengo to put a rather flattering scoreline on a match in which for an hour they were made to work really hard for any openings on goal. From St Boniface's perspective, we were able to compete with a team in a division far higher than ours for a long period, and we saw promising debuts from Matt, John and Chris as mentioned but also from the return of Mark Kenkre, and good debuts for Ian Collins, Matt Mogg and James Ayers (7 debutants in total). We look forward to converting this promise in next week's friendly against Village FC, also of the AFA league.

Simon Adams, Manager, St. Boniface

If you would like to write a report of a friendly match and get it published here, please email me at edwalker30@hotmail.com

I've prepared a Five-a-side review. Click here to read it

Like your amateur football? You'll love this book then. 'If Selected' takes you on a journey through a season in the life of St. Thomas' FC.

We work from Monday to Friday, we pay our bills, we cope with what life throws at us, but then comes kick-off on Saturday morning, and we become school boys again. We love it.

Come and share a season with us at St. Thomas' FC.

Alex Russon

To order the book, email order@ifselected.co.uk Send your name and address in the email and the number of copies needed. You will receive an email back telling you the address to send your cheque for £7 per book to along with £1.50 post and packaging.

I'm half-way through the book and hope to do a bit of a write up somewhere on this page. I've really enjoyed it so far. If you are involved with WMCFL you may even spot yourself, I did! - Ed